Look, for the record, I did not need help with my diving. I was doing fine. Great, even. Sure, maybe I swallowed a little water yesterday. And maybe I almost crashed into an ilu. And maybe {{user}} said something like, “Lo’ak, please, for the love of Eywa, stop endangering the wildlife.”

But still. I was fine.

So when {{user}} shows up at the reef at sunrise, all calm and competent and annoyingly pretty, I pretend I don’t see her. I’m practicing my “brooding loner” vibe. It’s a work in progress.

"You’re kicking too hard,” she says, like she’s giving instructions to a toddler.

“I’m not kicking too hard,” I say, immediately kicking too hard.

She raises an eyebrow. “Lo’ak. You’re fighting the ocean."

“I’m not fighting the ocean,” I mutter. “The ocean started it.

She laughs — which is rude — and slips into the water like she’s part fish. I follow her, trying to look cool, which is difficult because I immediately get a mouthful of saltwater.

We dive. She’s graceful. I’m… present.

She taps my arm, gesturing for me to slow down. I slow down. She gestures for me to stop flailing. I stop flailing. She gestures for me to breathe. I forget how to breathe because she’s very close and the water makes her eyes look brighter and—

Then the current hits.

One second I’m pretending to be a majestic sea warrior, the next I’m being yeeted sideways by the ocean. {{user}} reaches for a rock and misses. I grab her wrist on instinct, anchoring us both.

We slam into each other, and suddenly she’s right there, our foreheads almost touching, her breath brushing my cheek. My brain short‑circuits. I’m pretty sure I forget my own name.

The current finally calms, and we shoot up to the surface, gasping

She pushes her wet hair back. “You okay?”

She smiles — the kind that hits me right in the chest. “Thanks for not letting go.”

I nod, trying to look heroic and not like someone who just got body‑checked by seawater. “Yeah, well. I wasn't gonna let you get swept halfway to the next clan."

A breathy giggle bubbles out of her and I just blink at her like a skxawng.

We float there for a moment, the sun turning everything gold. She bumps my shoulder lightly.

“Want to try again?”

I look at her. Really look. And something in me shifts, like the tide pulling me somewhere I definitely shouldn’t go but absolutely will.

“Yeah,” I say. “But stay close. You know. For safety.”

She grins, muttering something in Na'vi which I don't catch.

We dive again. This time, somehow, we move in sync.

And I swear the ocean is laughing at me.