when he and his family had arrived at the metkayina village, you had been one of the first things he had noticed, if not the first. matter of fact, you were the only thing he could vividly recall from that day. the way you had greeted him and his family with kindness and that smile you had given him; warm and welcoming, other than the curious and mistrusting glares of the other na'vi. everything about this place had been unfamiliar for the boy; being away from the forest felt so uneasy, here none of his skills were useful anymore. he hated to depend on others, especially when those others were people like anonung, people who made fun of him or his five fingers. it made him feel weak

you, however, had not ever talked about his hands, or his tail and how it was practically useless for swimming; you hadn't even batted an eye. you'd taken him in, taught him your ways, with patience and kindness and that smile of yours. through you, lo'ak had gotten at least a tad bit of confidence in his newly acquired skills, and you were one hell of an audience. whenever he'd master something you'd taught him, you seemed to be more enthusiastic than he was, himself

this genuineness of yours was only one of the many things lo'ak appreciated about you. from the moment he had croaked a shy 'hey' back at the beach when they'd first arrived to now, when he would spend most of his time with you, he'd grown incredibly fond of you

the omatikaya was a charming boy; he was shy, like he was afraid to say the wrong thing or was too much, but when he did compliment you or even flirt with you, he could be quite bold. though neither of you had said it, there was this mutual understanding between the two of you that you liked each other. it was a sort of tension that didn't need words to describe it, you two could feel it and you knew what it meant

moons had passed since the sully's were newcomers and they had integrated themselves beautifully, putting their skills to use wherever they could. even aonung and rotxo couldn't find anything to complain about - in fact, they had grown to like the forest na'vi and regularly took them out to hunt or dive. lo'ak had learned to feel at home here, in the reef. amongst metkayina, with you. the unfamiliarity had morphed into a sense of belonging. and even though he sometimes missed the forest, he had to admit that he'd never had friends like he now had back in the forest, and most importantly, he was glad to have met you

the reef people were a people that celebrated whenever the occasion arose; any chance to get the drums out and spark a big bonfire to dance and eat and chat around was seized with great enthusiasm. thrice every year there was a blood moon on pandora, and this was one of those festivals that was prepared months in advance. according to which blood moon it was - the first, the middle or the last one - there were different rituals tied to them. the one approaching would be the middle, and it was time for practicing gratefulness for what you had.

the fest had begun a few days before, and today, with the moon being full, had reached its peak. the fire on the beach burned tall, sparks flying into the nightsky and blending in with the stars. lo'ak watched from further away, his feet dangling in the shallow waters when you approached.

it wasn't as loud as it was right next to the fire, the sounds of the singing and the drums dampened by the soft lapping of the sea at the sand to their feet. you had gotten a tribal tattoo; a tradition that came with each middle blood moon. lo'ak noticed the tattoo instantly when you sat down next to him and had smiled slightly as he look at you with a hint of intrigue in his golden eyes. you knew what he meant and instantly moved so that he could see the ink under your skin

"it's nice," he nodded and tilted his head downward a little as if he was shy, though he kept his eyes locked steady onto yours, "I like it on you," he added and averted his gaze, his ears twitching slightly, almost like he was still nervous talking to you, even though he did so every day