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inthedayswhenlandswerefew · 4 months ago

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Where Will All The Martyrs Go [Epilogue: It’s Not Over ‘Til You’re Underground]

A/N: We've finally reached the end of the Oregon Trail, besties!!! Enjoy this one last treat to celebrate the conclusion of Martyrs 🥰

Series summary: In the midst of the zombie apocalypse, both you and Aemond (and your respective travel companions) find yourselves headed for the West Coast. It’s the 2024 version of the Oregon Trail, but with less dysentery and more undead antagonists. Watch out for snakes! 😉🐍

Series warnings: Language, sexual content (18+ readers only), violence, bodily injury, med school Aemond, character deaths, nature, drinking, smoking, drugs, Adventures With Aegon™️, pregnancy and childbirth, the U.S. Navy, road trip vibes.

Both the series title and epilogue title are lyrics from: “Letterbomb” by Green Day.

Word count: 4.1k

💜 All my writing can be found HERE! 💜

Autumn is the harvest, ripping up roots, preparing for the starving time of winter, and so you step through the threshold of your new life as the world is ending again.

“I knew the chances,” Sophie says when you tell her what happened; but she can’t look at you, because of course she wishes it was Rio who made it to Odessa instead, and you don’t blame her. She breaks down and leaves the house, and you sit there—silent, sorry, self-loathing—for a long time with Rio’s weeping parents and Aegon’s arm draped across the back of your chair. But then Sophie comes back inside, and through tears she says it’s nice to meet you in person at last, and then she asks if you’d like to hold Rio’s son.

Here it is commonplace to see M16s and AR-15s, marijuana growing in gardens, a myriad of flags flying from homes—Don’t Tread On Me, Trump 2024, American flags, rainbow flags, porcupines of the Libertarian Party—and order is maintained by an elected council of longtime Odessa residents. For anyone to be allowed into the community, somebody already here must take responsibility for them, and so the seven of you—eight, counting Ice—spend the first few months sleeping on Rio’s parents’ living room floor and eating meals out of their cellar, enough self-stable food to last for years. You join the construction crew and help build houses, Cregan cuts down trees and fishes and hunts, Helaena shows Aegon how to garden and Sophie teaches Luke to bake bread. There are no doctors here, but there are several unlicensed midwives and a veterinarian named Ian Whitted. Rhaena studies under him—attending every appointment and taking copious notes in the spider notebook Helaena gifts her, sharing what she learned from Aemond—and before long her sutures are quicker and cleaner than Ian’s. Daeron, considered too young and inexperienced for the most dangerous work, is posted with his compound bow inside the village to serve as a guard. He resents this until he realizes there are far more women to flirt with here than out in the forest where wolves and bears prowl and the dead rove with incurable hunger.

You work from dawn to sunset; you work so you have no time to think. The baby doesn’t feel real, and neither does Aemond being gone, and the future is so unimaginable you’d rather not try to imagine it at all. Because you’re a good shot, they want you for patrols and raids of nearby towns to search for supplies, and you take every shift you’re offered until Rhaena says you have to stop. She tells you that each time you leave, Aegon watches the door until you walk through it again, that it’s not good for him, that it’s not good for you either. She says you can’t keep running from what’s happened.

“I’m not trying to run away,” you tell her where she’s cornered you by one of the wells, lilac twilight sky and glimmers of stars, hoots of owls and children laughing as they roast marshmallows over crackling fires. “I’m trying to find my way through.”

“Fine,” Rhaena replies firmly, no room for argument. “But you’re going to do that in here where it’s safe.”

The new houses have wooden walls and kitchen fireplaces made of stones, beds with feather mattresses, plots for gardens and pens for ducks, chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, cattle. Helaena and Cregan move into one cabin, Rhaena and Luke share another, and you have the last to yourself, the first time you’ve ever lived alone. Aegon and Daeron float around between the houses, more often than not ending up in yours as the sun is dipping below the tree line into the west, Daeron carving wooden cutlery with a hunting knife, Aegon cuddling with Ice on the deerskin rug, luring you into disastrous baking attempts and games of Uno and telling stories about Washington D.C., Djibouti, Key West, Corpus Christi, Chinhae, Diego Garcia, Saratoga Springs before the dead began to walk.

Thanksgiving dinner is at Rio’s parents’ house, Sophie’s baby sound asleep in his blue sling, candles flickering and Ice lying beneath the table to gulp down scraps that fall to the floor: roasted turkey, hazelnut stuffing, buttered carrots, mashed potatoes, pickled beets, salad with homemade ranch dressing, pumpkin pie for dessert.

“God, I miss chilidogs,” Aegon mutters beside you, and you laugh—a real laugh, loud and helpless, a lightness flooding into your arteries and the marrow of your bones—for the first time since Aemond died.

“You have to try this,” Sophie says, pouring you a small glass of moonshine distilled with apples and cherries and cinnamon. Everybody else has already had a taste except Aegon. He doesn’t drink anymore, doesn’t smoke the weed people grow here, only keeps a few tobacco plants in your garden to enjoy on rare occasions.

“I can’t,” you tell Sophie, staring at the amber-colored moonshine. You are over three months along and will be showing soon. It materializes all at once, shifts from a hazy apparition to something in full focus: next Thanksgiving you will have a fatherless infant of your own.

Sophie is puzzled. The glass of moonshine waits untouched on the table. “Why not?”

“Because I’m pregnant,” you say.

Aegon chokes on his pumpkin pie. “You’re what?!”

And everyone except Helaena drops their forks and leaps up to engulf you: How long have you known? How far along are you? Why didn’t you tell us? How can we help?

You stop lifting heavy things and stay off of ladders. Helaena brings you kale and mushrooms, Sophie knits you baby clothes, Rio’s mom makes you candles infused with essential oils, lavender, chamomile, ginger, and you lie and say they make a difference. Aegon helps you build a crib; you don’t need his help, but still, he insists. Smiling to himself, he etches two words into the headboard: Mini Chips. Wheat is planted in the fields to the north of the village. Scrap metal is scavenged for the blacksmiths to melt down to make nails and bullets. You learn to sweeten desserts with honey instead of sugar and to hold your hand flat when you feed the baby goats so they won’t nibble your fingers. You wait for winter to thaw and summer to come back around again.

It is what people would call a bad birth: hemorrhaging and lots of stitches, Rhaena squinting in the glow of the flashlights trying to piece you back together, rain outside and no lidocaine. You can’t stop crying. You feel like you’re going to die, and you’re shaking too badly to hold your own child, and you want Aemond. He would know what to do, he would know how to make the world go quiet. And the truth that he will never meet his daughter hits you over and over again like cold lethal waves, like bullets that pierce the heart.

Aegon is here instead, and you want to cling to him but you can’t; if all the others could die, so can he. But even when you look away from him to stare at the wall he stays, his hand clutching yours and never complaining even when you squeeze it hard enough to leave bruises that paint him maroon and indigo, tilting glasses filled with fresh pomegranate juice against your lips, asking Rhaena and Ian what you will need from him as you recover. Slowly the house empties and everyone goes home, but Aegon stays through the night and never leaves again.

Harmony cries a lot, as if she already knows she’s lost someone. She has trouble nursing and only sleeps for a few hours at a time. People are always coming in and out of the house: Sophie with handknit clothes and blankets for the baby, Helaena with flowers and fruit and vegetables, Rhaena with loaves of Luke’s fresh-baked bread, Cregan with firewood. At first Aegon is better with Harmony than you are. You love her, of course, and you mourn for the life you cannot give her; but you can’t shake the feeling that someone left her on your doorstep, this fragile bewildering creature you are so unequipped to soothe. Yet Aegon picks her up and she stops crying. He carries her around the house and murmurs nonsense—rules of golf, sailing knots—and she gazes up at him mesmerized; and in the peace that grows from him like weeds, wild and inevitable, you can heal.

Aegon helps you walk for the first week after the birth. He brings you meals, overflowing plates you can never finish. He respectfully averts his eyes when you nurse the baby and when he passes the bedroom as you’re changing clothes, slowly and inelegantly, every muscle feeling shredded. He falls exhausted into bed beside you with his arms crossed over his chest so he won’t reach for you in his sleep. You keep waiting for him to start craving marijuana and moonshine, to meet someone who makes him wayward again while you are left here alone, morose and unglamorous and bleeding. You care about Aegon—entirely, violently—but you are convinced you’ll never love a man again. Perhaps love is something that is always doomed to be broken, ruinous, poisoned.

When Harmony is about four months old, you begin to see Aegon differently. You can’t stop staring at the way his hair shags over his eyes when he’s bent low in the garden, you hide behind walls and listen each time you catch him singing to himself, you feel a dark desperate sense of loss when other women flirt with him, though Aegon is never more than polite in return. You find excuses to touch him, and he always acquiesces: Let me bandage the cuts on your hands, let me dab honey on your sunburn.

One night you wake to find Aegon with Harmony in the kitchen, humming and rocking her in his arms as he paces back and forth across the wood floor in his bare feet, the full moon radiant through the window, the fireplace crackling. He glances over when he notices you standing in the doorway and says: “I think this is the only thing I’ve ever been good at.”

“Aegon?”

“Yeah, Chips.”

“I’m in love with you.”

At first he is startled, and then he smiles in the firelight, a slow mischievous curve of the lips that puts stars in his eyes and shows his teeth. “Took you long enough.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly ten years ago, you were learning how to be a builder at Class A Technical School in Gulfport, Mississippi, salt and sun and sweet tea and humidity that lies heavy like a second skin you can’t shed. Today you are hammering nails into boards that will be a wall of the new meeting house, twice the square footage of the old one. The community here keeps growing.

“Watch out for your fingers, Zack Attack.”

Zack looks over at you. He’s a kid, nineteen, and he’s only been here a week. He left Beaumont, Texas with a group of thirty people, one of them the cousin of a council member here. Twelve were left when they arrived. “Huh?”

“You’re holding the nail too close to the bottom,” you say. “If you swing the hammer and miss—and you will miss, everyone does sometimes, even me—you’ll crush your fingers against the wood. But if you hold the nail up near the top, the hammer will kind of knock them out of the way as it comes down, and you won’t have to worry about Rhaena or Ian popping your bones back into place.”

“Oh, cool! Thanks!” Zack readjusts his hands. “Where’d you learn to do all this?”

“The Navy.”

“Right. That makes sense.” He gives you a crooked, conspiratorial grin. “I heard you’re a good shot.”

“I am, I guess.” You don’t do patrols anymore, but you’re on the list of people to call when there’s a security breach, and you go because you have to. If Odessa is ever overrun, that will be the end of the life you’ve made here. The last scare was two months ago, a hoard that wandered up from the south, probably out of Klamath Falls. Someone knocked and you answered, leaving Aegon standing in the doorway with troubled eyes, Noah in his arms asking: Where Mama go? And Aegon had told him She’ll be back soon, buddy, but of course no one had known if that was true.

Now Zack says admiringly: “A real killer.”

You smile and give him a slap on the shoulder as you start climbing down the ladder. “I’d rather be a builder.”

“You heading out?”

“Yeah, my kids probably miss me.”

“See ya tomorrow. Bring more of Aegon’s raspberry crumb muffins.”

You laugh. “If there are any left.”

Down on the ground, bumblebees orbit tufts of wildflowers and cats prowl for mice. Sitting cross-legged on the grass are kids rubbing nails against bars of goat milk soap; it makes them go into the wood easier. They play the same way you did as a child: in the dirt, in the wild, tracking animals and building dams in the creek. They wave as you pass by. Everyone knows each other here. Everyone knows what you can do with the Beretta M9 in your holster.

Beside one of the wells, Daeron is helping a flock of tittering, blushing women pull up their buckets and plucking stray blades of grass and pine needles out of their hair. He is easily the most eligible bachelor in Odessa, and in no hurry to take himself off the market. By the schoolhouse, two teenagers are petting Ice as they listen to Aegon’s pink Sony Walkman and rap along to Gold Digger: “You will see him on tv, any given Sunday, win the Super Bowl and drive off in a Hyundai…”

But at Sophie’s house, the song you hear is Darius Rucker’s Wagon Wheel, drifting from a battery-powered boombox containing one of Rio’s dad’s cassette tapes. Aegon is already here and dusted with earth, your children clamoring around his legs as he chats with Sophie at the edge of the garden: zucchini, snap peas, tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, kale. When Aegon sees you, he lights up and says to the kids: “Look! Look who’s here!” And you crouch down and open your arms so you can catch all three of them as they barrel into you on small, wobbly legs.

The second birth was much easier, the third only lasted an afternoon. Opal, three years old, is named after a gemstone that Sophie told you symbolizes hope and clarity; Noah, two and with unruly blonde hair like Aegon’s, shares a name with the man who started over when the world flooded and all the generations before were lost. You pick him up before he can trip over his own feet.

“Mama, come see!” Harmony shouts, grabbing your free hand and dragging you to a hutch full of fluffy, multicolored rabbits. Aegon is walking over to join you, his hands in his pockets and a soft smile on his lips, long blonde hair and stubbled cheeks.

“Are these the new meat rabbits?” you say without thinking, and Aegon widens his eyes at you.

Harmony peers up with a worried frown. She’s getting too smart to be shielded from such harsh realities. “Why did you call them meat rabbits?”

Aegon swoops Harmony off the ground to distract her. “Because they’re so excited to meet you!” he says as she giggles and kicks through open air.

“What are their names?” you ask to change the subject.

“Arrax,” Opal says in her toddler lisp, pointing to a grey one. And then, indicating a rabbit with long, reddish-tan fur: “Morning.”

“Those are such nice names!” you gush, a bit perplexed. Children have a certain mystery to them, one foot still in the Great Beyond, wherever souls wait to be born and reunited.

“And this one is Sunfyre,” Harmony announces proudly, reaching through the wire to scratch its straw-colored coat.

“Sunfyre?!” Aegon says. “Well now you’re just making shit up.” A pause. “Stuff. You’re making stuff up.”

“And Sunfyre is married to Dreamfyre.”

“Cute,” Aegon says. “Incestuous, but cute.”

“The post-apocalypse dating pool is limited,” you remind him.

“Have you met the Texas people yet?” Sophie asks you as she wanders over to the hutch in a handknit yellow dress, wearing elephant earrings that Rio once mailed home to her from Djibouti.

“Yeah, some of them are working on the meeting house. They seem really nice. And apparently they know how to barbeque, so that’s exciting. New recipes!”

Sophie smirks. “When they dropped by to introduce themselves, I had to have the whole conversation again.”

“Well…you did name your kid Otter.”

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Sophie says, chuckling, showing her palms. “I did not name him Otter.”

“You named him Bryan Otter Osorio. And you call him Otter.”

“Because he’s a little kid and it’s a perfectly fine nickname for now! And then when he’s older…you know…he can decide who he wants to be.”

You smile. “Sure.”

“I think it’s great, personally,” Aegon says. “I’m hoping I’ll get to name my next one Softshell Turtle.”

“Absolutely,” you deadpan. “And what if it’s a girl?”

“Softshell Turtle is obviously unisex.”

Sophie is laughing and shaking her head. “I hate you guys.”

Helaena and Cregan arrive to pick up their children, two sets of twins, all named after species of butterflies: Skipper, Adonis, Tiger, Sara. Rio’s parents bring them outside to the garden to be collected. They and Sophie like to keep the house full of children, especially now that Otter is getting older. And when they need meat or firewood or their roof patched, they know who to ask.

“I’m so sorry,” Sophie tells Helaena and Cregan as they wrangle their brood. “I’m mortified. Adonis ate Harmony’s oatmeal raisin cookie and made her cry, so Otter smacked him in the head with his golf club.” Aegon has carved miniature, lightweight clubs out of pine wood for each of the children; they zip around putting acorns and walnuts. “Adonis was freaked out but I think he’s fine now. I couldn’t find a bruise or anything. Again, I’m so, so, so sorry.”

“You okay, buckaroo?” Cregan asks, and his oldest son—brunette man bun, already pestering his dad to take him hunting—nods adamantly.

“Duh. It didn’t even hurt.”

Cregan guffaws and turns back to Sophie. “See? No harm done.”

Otter trots out of the house, rubbing his eyes like he just woke up from a nap. Harmony immediately runs over to hug him. He’s already six inches taller than her and is always giving her gifts that end up on the fireplace mantle at your house: flecks of quartz, pinecones, bracelets woven from buttercups.

Sophie asks Otter: “Did you think about what you did earlier?”

“Yeah,” he replies cavalierly.

“Would you do it again?”

“Probably.”

“Oh dear,” Sophie exhales, exasperated.

You beam down at Otter. “He’s exactly like Rio.”

“Yeah,” Sophie says wistfully, combing her fingers through his dark curly hair. “He really is.”

Rhaena and Luke happen to be strolling by and stop to say hello. Luke teaches English classes at the schoolhouse, founded the Cultural Preservation Committee, and writes and directs a new play each month. When he is in the lull between original ideas, he draws from pre-zombie pop culture. The June production is Free Britney.

“Hi!” Rhaena says, waving. “Are we still on for dinner tonight?” All the adults offer greetings and confirm they’ll swing by her and Luke’s cabin in a few hours. Then Rhaena shields her eyes from the sun as she sighs incredulously. “Do you realize there are ten women due in the next two weeks? I spend all day rushing around because they’re panicking about Braxton Hicks contractions. If I get one full night’s sleep between now and mid-July, it’ll be a miracle. Am I the only human alive who knows how to use the rhythm method? I explain it! I give lessons!”

You laugh and say: “I think people just really want babies, Rhaena.”

“They’re so sweet,” Helaena coos as she snuggles Sara against her chest.

“Gotta repopulate the planet,” Cregan adds.

Rhaena is disturbed. “I don’t feel ready for that.”

“Totally cool,” you assure her. “Helaena and I are keeping the average up.”

That night, logs pop and hiss in the fireplace and wind howls outside through the forest. On the walls are photographs of Aemond and Helaena and Daeron, drawings that the children have scribbled of you and Aegon. Propped in one corner of the living room is Aegon’s acoustic guitar; Harmony’s current favorite song for him to play is Big Girls Don’t Cry, though a slightly censored version of Fergalicious is a close second. Tomorrow is Aegon’s birthday. You have a cake hidden in one of the kitchen cabinets—cinnamon, honey, buttercream frosting—that you baked this morning before leaving for the construction site, along with 35 small homemade candles dyed green with chamomile. Every year he assumes you’ve forgotten, but you never do. You’re so thankful he was born. You are eternally finding new ways to convince him of this.

All five of you cuddle up in the big bed for story time. You begin as you always do, struggling to capture the kids’ attention as they crawl around giggling and rolling on top of each other: “Hey, hey, everyone look at me. You remember what we say.” Harmony knows this part my heart, Opal has the words mostly right, Noah gives it a solid effort as he mauls on a teddy bear Sophie knitted for him. “You’re beautiful. I love you. You’re doing the right thing.”

“What story should Mama tell tonight, huh?” Aegon asks as you open the book of fairytales borrowed from the makeshift community library, another one of Luke’s projects. “The Little Mermaid, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Beauty and the Beast…oh wait, I think I might be in that one…”

Harmony says to you: “Tell the story about how Aemond saved us from the tower.”

Children understand death here. People get infections, people succumb to cancer or heart attacks or strokes or diabetes, people go out on raids or patrols and never come back, one man contracted rabies from a bat bite and was—at his request—euthanized via gunshot. Harmony is aware she had a father before Aegon, but that he had to go to heaven early, and so Aegon is her father now and loves her completely. She knows Aemond’s face from the photographs Helaena took from the beach house on the Pacific Ocean. She knows the kind of person he was from the stories she’s been told. Harmony envisions a fantastical castle keep instead of a stark metal transmission tower draped in dead wires, and she’s a bit unclear on the chronology of when she entered the picture, but she has heard about the journey to Odessa. Aegon’s map, annotated with glittery green gel pen ink, hangs on the kitchen wall.

You close the book, looking at Harmony: your hair, Aemond’s eyes. “Okay. I can tell that one.”

“Mama…” Her little forehead crinkles, questions she is at last getting old enough to start asking. “Why do some people have to go to heaven before they’re old?”

You hesitate, trying to decide how to explain; and now embers are glowing hot and scarring in your throat. It’s a fire that cools and rekindles but never burns out. Aegon speaks instead. “Because they’re heroes, Mini Chips,” he says gently. “They go to heaven so other people get to stay here longer. Aemond went to heaven so you and your mom could live here in Odessa with me.”

“So Otter’s daddy was a hero too?”

Aegon leans down to kiss the top of her head, his eyes shining. “Yeah. Exactly.”

Not just a hero, you think. A martyr. Someone who dies for a cause.

Harmony is patting your arm with her tiny outstretched hand. “The tower, Mama. Tell us about the tower.”

Now you are there again with Rio: sixty feet off the ground and clinging to metal beams hot enough to put blisters on your palms, cascading June sunlight and wild emerald fields, blood and madness behind you, the mirage of Oregon ahead, believing without reason that someone out there will save you.

And they will; they will.

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goodlucktai · 4 months ago

Note

15. "This is going to hurt, okay?" with leo for your zombie apocalypse au (maybe leo losing his arm??)

dialogue prompts

15. “This is going to hurt, okay?”

When the initial outbreak hit New York City like a bomb, Splinter was adamant that they bunker down in the Hidden City until the world was safe again. One almost-apocalypse was enough for him, thank you. This second one could be someone else’s problem.

Frankly, Donatello could see the merit in that. For those initial frightening forty-eight hours he was all but glued to the TV. A handful of staff and one anchor had remained barricaded in the Channel 6 news room, broadcasting what information they could until the station ultimately went dark like all the others. And what they had to share was grim.

Whistleblowers had been quick to throw CEO Theo Audrey’s pharmaceutical subsidiary under the bus as the catalyst, claiming the corporation was in the business of bioweapons. Whether or not that was true, it gave the world a name for the violently aggressive infected: Auds.

Raphael argued that they had the ability to help people, which meant they had the responsibility to. He was more careful with the word ‘hero’ than he used to be, careful in general with what he said around impressionable little brothers who wanted to live up to whatever idea he had in his head that they should be. But it was obvious to all of them what he thought was the right thing to do.

They had all looked at Leo then, their fearless leader. He was still growing into the role, but he had always been the voice of common sense that kept their heads above water.

Leo didn’t say anything right away, his mind racing ahead as he chased the thread of each argument to its end. He could account for inevitabilities and pitfalls and curveballs as easily as if it was all one big game of chess.

And finally he came to the decision he could live with, and said, “Raph’s right. We have to help who we can. But we’ll be safe, papa.”

That was three months ago. The world is still ending, and no cure is in sight, and Donatello doesn’t want to think about how those without portal magic are surviving when they have no choice but to venture out for food or water or medicine.

Sometimes he thinks Splinter was right. Other times he thinks about all the people who are still alive only because of his brothers’ inherent goodness and he can’t imagine having done anything else.

Today, the portal that brings the patrol team home is orange, not blue. Donnie’s heart is in his throat even before he processes the screaming.

“POPS!” Raph’s voice tears through the lair. He hasn’t sounded that frightened since those seconds before the Technodrome exploded in the sky. “Donnie, April—somebody!”

Donnie bursts out of the tunnel into the terminal that makes up their living room and all the air leaves his lungs at once.

Raph’s hands are bloody, and Mikey is crying, and Leo is writhing in their big brother’s hold. The once-bright yellow hoodie Mikey had been wearing that morning is stained an ugly rust color and pressed hard against Leo’s right arm.

“Shh, hey, it’s okay, we’re home,” Raph murmurs, none of the panic on his face making it into his trembling voice. “Raph’s gotta show Don. This is gonna hurt, okay?” He peels away the hoodie, fighting Leo’s grip on his own arm to do it. Leo chirps in distress, and it’s horrible, and Raph all but trips over himself to soothe, “I know, baby, hold on. Hold on.”

He finally reveals a gruesome, gaping tear in the flesh above Leo’s elbow. The edges are shaped like teeth.

“No,” Donnie says.

“We found a few families trapped in an apartment building. One of them had a little girl and she—” Mikey manages to choke out. “She started crying. It was so loud. The Odds swarmed the level we were on in seconds.”

No, is all he can think. No no no.

What apocalypse? The world is ending right here. The world is in Raph’s arms, bleeding and gasping and dying.

“Move,” Draxum says, as good as appearing out of thin air. Donnie’s situational awareness is apparently nonexistent right now but he still hears it when Splinter dashes into the room a second later, if only because of the wounded sound his father makes.

Draxum places his hands on Leo’s wounded arm just above the bite and they begin to glow. Donnie loses the strength in his legs before he completes the last couple steps between himself and his brothers, so he just crawls the rest of the way. He takes his twin’s hand and pretends there is nothing that could force him to ever let go.

“From what we have seen, the infection turns a new host in a manner of minutes,” Draxum says, expression fierce with focus. “How long did it take you to get him home?”

“Um,” Mikey says, scrambling to grab hold of something other than grief and fear the way he would rifle chaotically through the mess of sticker paper and sketchbooks on his desk for the right color copic or drawing pen. Blinking hard and rubbing away fresh tears on his sleeve, their youngest finds the courage to do anything besides just wail and scream the way they all would like to and says, “It wasn’t right away. My portals aren’t instant like L—like Lee’s are. I have to, um, draw the sigils in my mind the way you taught me.”

“Four minutes,” Raph offers. “And twenty-one seconds,” he adds a beat later. “Raph was counting.”

He leans down and presses his cheek to Leo’s forehead. He isn’t saying goodbye, but he’s holding close just in case. He’s giving Leo something sweet to go out on if he has to go. He’s crying, too, a steady, silent drip.

Splinter strokes Leo’s cheek with the backs of his fingers. Donnie isn’t brave enough to look at him. He can’t look at anyone.

There is no other way for this to end. There isn’t a cure. Any bite or scratch is an instant death sentence. Then Donnie’s twin would become something else, a violent, hungry shell of someone once good and loved, and they would have to deal with that. They would have to see it, the ugly wretchedness of it, and never make peace with it for as long as they lived.

And yet—

“He should have turned by now,” April says from just behind Donnie. Her voice is shaking, and she looks like she wants to collapse where she’s standing, but she still manages to claw something shaped like hope out of the worst moment of their lives. “That’s what you’re saying.”

“That’s what I’m saying. This virus is human in nature—mortal. There is a reason the Hidden City is unaffected. Yokai are creatures of magic. In much the same way I could not catch the flu from you, O’Neil, we cannot be infected by Odds. You Hamato call yourselves mutants, but you are yokai. At least in part.”

“And you wouldn’t have thought to mention something like this sooner?” Splinter hisses, something close to hate in his voice.

“How would you have liked me to test it, Lou?” Draxum bites back.

“Shut up,” April says. “What does that mean, Barry?”

“It means the virus has been isolated at the site of the infection,” Draxum says. “It will not remain that way for long. It will spread, very slowly, and eventually take him. This pain that he is in will not wane until he is gone. We must act before it is too late.”

Donatello’s mind is as quick as Leonardo’s, even though they are constantly racing down different avenues. He understands what Draxum has not yet said. What exactly he’s proposing.

They have to remove the site of the infection.

“I can’t do that,” he blurts, too loud.

“Someone must,” Draxum replies, not pulling any punches. “If you want it to be me, then it will be me.”

“What are you talking about?” Mikey says. “Dee?”

Donnie can’t speak. He presses his forehead to the corner of Leo’s that isn’t crammed fitfully against Raph’s shoulder.

It’s a terrible risk. Amateur amputations are the stuff of nightmares. And it might not even work. There’s no precedent. There’s just a one in a million chance and a family desperate enough to take it.

“Leo,” he whispers. “Hey. Nardo. Please. I can’t just. I need you to—I need you to tell me it’s okay. Lee. I need you to tell me what to do.”

He feels it almost instantly, the click and connect of a mind meld. Leo’s mind flows into Donnie’s as effortlessly as it has every time they’ve done this before, the mischievous wind of his ninpo breezing through Donnie’s lightning storm like the skies they belong to are one and the same.

There isn’t a conversation. Leo’s thoughts are muddled, fever-bright and confused, not at all like the shape they take when the wickedly clever slider is feeling like himself. But Donnie hears him anyway.

He understands just from this instant of togetherness that Leo doesn’t want to leave them. He wants to stay where they are. He would do anything to stay.

Donnie parts from him with a gasp. His siblings watch him avidly, tears streaming down their faces unchecked. Leo looks tiny in Raph’s arms. There’s already so little of him, and now they are going to whittle him down even more.

But the helpless screaming fear is no longer the loudest thing in Donnie’s head. It’s drowned out by the deafening rumble of a storm, that faraway sky that flashes with purple lightning and playful gales of blue. Nothing could be louder than the two of them when they have something to prove.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he says, one hand on his twin’s plastron over the spot where that fearless, unyielding heart beats for them. “Hear me? I’m taking this arm, but I’ll give you back a better one.”

The air goes out of the room as all of his siblings and his father suck in a breath and hold it. Raph’s grip on Leo tightens, as if he needs just one more second in a world where this doesn’t have to happen, where there’s another way.

Then he lifts his mismatched eyes and there’s only trust there when he looks at Donnie. Mikey’s hand grips the wrist of the one Donnie has on Leo. April puts her arm around Mikey.

They’re all here. They’re all going to stay right here.

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #hamato donatello #hamato leonardo #disaster twins #hamato raphael #hamato michelangelo #april o'neil #lou jitsu #baron draxum #my writing #prompt #tmnt fic #camsthisky #I FORGOT ABOUT CASEY JR #IM SO SORRY #against the odds au

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luveline · 1 year ago

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Omg what about reader talking to Eddie and she just starts crying bc she's just loves him so so much and Eddie is so confused what's happening and for a sec he thinks it's bc the joke he made hurt her feelings and he's just like "baby sorry no I'm sorry ur not too chatty" and like "ur crying bc u love him? Why is that making u cry??"

“And we went back to her place and slept four to a bed. I'm surprised I had it in me, but I guess I was, you know, sixteen.” You stab a particularly nice looking roasted potato with your fork and put it on his plate. “It's kind of crazy. I couldn't do that now, I'm too old. My back would hurt too much. I can only sleep in my bed or your bed.”

“Mine, please.”

You laugh and give him another potato off of your plate. He already has potatoes, but this is how you are. You won't accept them back —he's tried to stop you before, with less than optimal results. “Yours for sure. I'm too full to drive.”

“That's what I like to hear.” He pushes his plate away in case a third potato is on its way, gesturing to your food with his knife. “Is yours warm enough?”

“Sure.” You wipe your mouth with a napkin and take the sip of your shared drink with a refreshed smile. “Ah, and that's really cold.”

“We could still do stuff like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know, like you and your friends did. I know we're not sixteen anymore but we can still have fun.”

“I do have fun.”

He shrugs and stands, picking up your empty glass to refill for you. “And we'd get to sleep in our own bed at the end,” he says, kissing the side of your head. “We'll go out this weekend and do all that fun stuff. But with fewer felonies.”

“They weren't felonies,” you say.

Eddie laughs as he makes his way to the sink. He loves this, having dinner with you, letting you talk his ear off. “You're nonstop tonight, baby, somebody put a quarter in you or what?”

“Two quarters,” you say.

He makes a drink. It can't take long. He rinses out the glass, fills it with coke, grabs a handful of ice cubes from the fridge and wipes the counter when he's done. He sits across from you as he had been, waiting to hear more of your story or maybe whatever plans you'd like to make this weekend, but he stops cold, because you're crying in your seat all quiet and secretive, looking down at your lap.

“Hey,” Eddie says, panic shooting through him, quick and unapologetic, “Hey. Hey, what's wrong? You're crying.”

He reaches across the table for your hand. “I wasn't trying to be mean,” he says hurriedly. “You're chatty, but you're my chatty– uh, thing, you know? Not that you're a thing. You're not a thing.” Eddie squeezes your hand, swapping panic for a more serious demand. “What's wrong?”

“Eddie, stop,” you say.

“You stop. What's wrong, sweetheart? You gotta tell me.” His voice fries with pleading.

“I just love you.”

He stares at you. “What?”

“I love you, Eddie…” You sniff and wipe your cheek. “Sorry, I'm not trying to be a loser,” —you laugh, and his racing heart starts to settle— “just you're the only person I know who'd sit here listening to me babble and figure out what I'm trying to say. I'm so lucky. I love you so much.”

Eddie feels a heat growing along his waterline. “Well, hey, I love you too. You're the only person I'd wanna sit and listen to. You get that?”

“I know.” You laugh wetly. “I don't know why it made me cry, I was just thinking, you kissed me and I was thinking hey, he really loves me.”

“I really do.”

He gets up out of his seat to hug you. While he holds you, you thankfully ride out the short lived bubble of tears, though you do turn into his chest and splutter another I love you.

He's shocked that someone would feel that way about him, to love him to tears, especially you. So after he's hugged you close, he peels your face away from his neck to cradle your face, locking your eyes, ensuring that what he's about to say will stick.

“I love you,” he says, nodding, “but you're not lucky. I like listening to you talk. It's the best.” He wipes your cheeks dry tenderly. “Don't waste your tears on me.”

“Wasn't trying to.”

He leans down for a gentle kiss. He knows you weren't upset, but he figures you deserve a soft touch anyhow. A very, very soft touch.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson scenario #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader

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leezlelatch · 2 months ago

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I love your writing and style. It's been a hard week and it's made me happy after discovering it. Just wondering if you, if you had the time, could write a slightly smutty drabble. I love your take on protective doll baby Copia. He's perfect.

With the last few months I'd love to read a ficlette where he discovers the reader almost in tears after being torn down by people, told that she's worthless, and now doubting herself because of the complete lack of self esteem which is even worse after this. Copia goes into DarkCopia mode while loving her like the badass he is. He doesn't like it when people hurt his gal. And he makes sure she knows how much worth he sees in her.

Truly though, even if you don't have time...your stuff has made me happy. <3

Hello, my friend. I'm so sorry this week has been hard. I hope it has improved, and I am so happy that my writing has made a difference! Here is a little something for you from me, and Copia. <3

Copia x Reader - hurt/comfort, fluff, suggestive, a little smutty, protective Copia, suggestively Dark!Copia.

The old key slipping into the lock rouses you from your light doze, and your eyes feel heavy as you turn over, watching as Copia steps into his quarters, his gaze lowered as he shifts his takeout bag from one hand to the other, depositing the key back into his pocket. He raises his head, and you make eye contact. Two things happen in that moment that makes the hair raise on your arms, and your heart warm with affection at the same time. Copia takes in the sight of you, curled up like a burrito in his blanket, your nose tucked into the fabric, eyes red. He knows it’s because you’re trying to find comfort in his scent. He knows you, in and out. His expression freezes in a ghastly stare, his eyes narrowed, lips set in a deep frown which accentuates the wrinkles around his mouth. His brows are pulled down, and he appears paler than he usually does. In short, he looks ready to hurt someone.

But then it falls away. Cold fury melting into concern, and he drops his bag at the door, uncaring as the takeout boxes tumble and rest on their sides in his haste to reach you. Gloved hands pull you from the blankets, settling you across his lap, his arms cradling you. His face grows very close to yours, searching your eyes with a certain desperation. Copia is another person when it comes to you. The endearing, funny Papa is gone and replaced by someone who is calculating, smart, one step ahead. The real him. The one he hides, the clergy unaware that the puppet is actually the puppet master. You’re precious to him, and there is nothing this man would not do to keep you happy and safe.

“Baby,” he says very softly, his accent curling around the endearment. “Tell Papa what happened, eh?” His thumb rubs beneath your eye. “What are the tears for?”

“I had a hard day,” you respond, your voice a little hoarse. His brow furrows, and one of his hands slides its way down your body, feeling, prodding gently, as if he were checking for some external injury. “I’m okay, Copia.”

“Okay is not finding il mio amore all wrapped up and crying.” He works at removing a glove, slipping each finger out of the leather. He flexes his hand once it’s removed, and it makes you smile, even if just a little. Copia said to you before that he was used to it, but you know the constricting leather became a little much after a long day.

“Somebody said something to me today,” you murmur, taking his hand and holding it to your face. His fingers cradle your jaw, the warmth of his skin encouraging you to speak. “And I feel like I just…can’t do right. That I’m not right. I can’t even face myself in the mirror because I’m afraid of what I’ll see.” You pause, gathering your thoughts. “I’m afraid to see that they’re right.”

Copia sucks in a shaky breath when you finish, and you can already see his mind working. “My love, I don’t want you going after anyone,” you say, reaching to grasp his chin, squeezing it gently. “I’m not telling you this to make you angry.”

He stares down at you, and then he nods slowly. Copia shifts back onto the bed so his back is against the wall and he adjusts his hold on you, looking thoughtful as his fingers pick up a soothing rhythm against your cheek. “There are a few things I need to be correcting, amore. And I need you to be good for your Papa, and listen. I will never allow a single soul in this building or elsewhere to hurt you. That goes for all our Siblings, but you are not just a Sibling, sì? You are my amore. Also,” he clicks his tongue. “The peoples are wrong. They will learn that they are wrong. And you, vita mia, also need to be corrected.”

You’re listening intently, your eyes trained on his features, adoring how expressive his features are when he speaks, but his last words make you pause. “I have to be corrected?” That was the last thing you expected to hear.

“Yes,” Copia says, drawing out the word, his expression set. You’re bewildered when he doesn’t elaborate, letting out a sound of surprise as he firmly guides you up and out of the bed.

“Copia, no-,” you begin to protest as he approaches the full length mirror near his dresser, your hand tightly wrapped in his grip. Copia pins you with a look that shuts your mouth, and he takes you by the shoulders, setting you directly in the reflection of the mirror.

“We shall start here,” he says, his fingers tapping beneath your chin. “You will watch, and listen.” Copia circles you like a vulture, his hands clasped behind his back. “When you smile, I want to smile too.” His voice has lowered, tender and affectionate. “I am not so proud of my teeth, but I would smile ear to ear just to match your joy. That is healing for me, amore. You do that.”

Fingers brush your cheek. “You blush at the sight of me. At the sight of me. So beautiful and sweet, and I am sure that I have seen the depths of paradise. And the way your eyes light up when you’re excited, oh…,” he laughs softly to himself, his voice almost a coo. “Do you realize how lucky I am to know your eyes? To watch your brow furrow or rise. To see emotion pass over your face. To read the story of your life through every blemish and line.”

Your breath is stolen from your lungs, and you’re already crying. Copia’s hands shake as they grasp your hips, standing now close behind you, his voice a gentle whisper in your ear. His breath makes you shiver, and you feel his hips shift against your backside. “You’re biased,” you whisper, and he laughs.

“I am very proud of this, amore. It is a gift to be biased,” he murmurs, his eyes catching yours in the mirror. “It is a gift to have you.” His hands slip beneath your shirt, grasping and kneading at soft skin. You make a breathless noise, leaning back against him, and Copia almost purrs. “Hmm, you are liking your Papa’s touches?”

They slip higher, fingers grazing your nipples, and he pauses there. You whimper, caught between your emotions and your arousal, and Copia knows how to play you like the finest instrument. When to touch, and when to pause, letting it all wash over you, giving you the time you need to feel safe in his arms. “Your body,” he says, pressing his hips firmly into the curve of your ass. “Ignites a fire inside of me, you know? I am incomplete when I am not joined with you.” He’s almost growling now, a rough edge to his voice.

You’re spun around in his arms and he captures your lips in a searing kiss, his tongue thoroughly plundering your mouth and rendering you incapable of any thought. Copia has a talent at making you forget, and suddenly the cruel words from today have all but vanished from your mind. “I love you,” he hisses, nipping at your bottom lip. His hand grasps your chin, raising your eyes to his, and his tone softens. “I love you.”

He kisses you softly now, his lips curling into a smile. “You are worth everything. You don’t need to look into the mirror, amore, just look into my eyes. I see you. I see the glory in you. And you will always have a home with me. You are safe with me.”

Another tear falls down your cheek and he kisses it away. “I love you, too,” you whisper, leaning your forehead against his. Your hand slips beneath the waistband of his trousers, and he gasps, arching into your touch.

“Do not think,” he murmurs, his voice a little strained as he pushes you toward the bed. “That this does not mean they will be…removed. Papa protects what is his.”

#the band ghost #the band ghost fanfiction #papa emeritus iv #copia emeritus #papa copia #papa iv #cardinal copia #papa emeritus 4 #copia #papa emeritus iv x reader #cardinal copia x reader #mildly suggestive

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fizzigigsimmer · 1 month ago

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We joke about Steve's breeding kink, but Steve's ONE dream in this hot mess of a show has become deeply important to me. The menfolk of the world are not okay! 😄 Toxic masculinity has them terrified that someone will guess that their emotional range is deeper than a thimble. That shit has caused more broken homes and world dysfunction than we could ever quantify. Let boys be good husbands and fathers! Normalize boys who answer 'I want to be a dad when I grow up' whether they had a great one, a shit one, or no one!

Normalize Steve who just want babies for all the reasons humans ever want babies! You heard that right, life goal = daddy! He can't wait to get off work and see their kiddos. Normalize Steve who likes being a stay at home dad and doesn't give one flying fuck what you think about it Ted! He said, 'no babe take that promotion. I'll take time off of work so someone can ferry the little sprocket back and forth to the good preschool.' Pay for daycare? Insane! He thinks YOU'RE weird for caring Ted, here's his two week notice by the way.

Normalize Steve who plans family day trips with the same heart as a week long family vacation. Who maybe doesn't have all the therapy words to verbalize it, but still makes it unmistakably clear that family time is his number one priority. Nobody could hold a candle to his partner, and his kids are the best thing since sliced bread. Yes he takes an embarrassing amount of photos of them, and yes his friends have seen his entire camera roll more times than they want to count.

Normalize Steve who gives no fucks about spending his days wiping snotty noses and answering important life questions like 'why do we poop?' and carrying around little nuggets with fluffy hair and puffy cheeks in cutsey little stomach and back carriers. He picked that shit out himself, and you read that shit right, she's 'daddy's little terror' and why yes, that is an ewok onsie. Dustin told him so. What's a star war got to do with it?

Normalize Steve whose capacity for love and gentleness astounds his partner every damn day, because it amplifies the qualities truly responsible for his course correction in season one, in a way that our emotionally tortured toxic cesspool of a society never allowed him to before someone let him love them and gave it back. Normalize a Steve who said fuck the patriarchy bullshit, being somebody's partner makes him so happy they never worry about that man for a second. Steve risking their relationship? HA! That man tears up at old home videos! Shut up. That man is so fulfilled by his family, the neighbors think they're mormans the way the house just keeps growing!

#end rant #lol #Steve Harrington #Harringrove #I kid #but for real something happened to a friend and it's got me gnashing my teeth at how fucked up our culture is #also the

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phoward89 · 10 months ago

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Based on this ask

Best friend!Coriolanus x Reader, Coriolanus x Best friend!Reader, Academy!Coriolanus x Academy!Reader

You just couldn't believe what happened. Your boyfriend, Livinius Cardew, who was a year older than you, was cheating on you. And you just had to find out by walking in on him and the skank from the University that he was cheating on you with. God, why did you decide to go to Vinny's apartment (that his parents got him whenever he graduated from the academy last year) to surprise him for? Usually you call and see if he's busy or not.

But no…today you decideed to just drop by since you were already in the neighborhood. Well, you were actually in the library working on a project with your best friend, Coriolanus, but decided instead of going home to your Corso apartment you'd go see your boyfriend instead.

Coryo couldn't stand Vinny, but he tolerated Livia Cardew's older brother because he was your boyfriend. The platinum blonde didn't want you ditching him to the curb over some asshole, so he played nice with your boyfriend.

But after tonight, well, he won't be hiding his hatred for the older Cardew sibling anymore.

Of course, after being let inside of Livinius’ apartment by the Avox and finding him in his study getting ridden like a trick pony by some university girl, you ran to the only place you could. Your best friend's penthouse.

You were a wreck, tear stains and mascara rolling down your cheeks, as you frantically knocked on Coriolanus' door. You felt so stupid, felt so heartbroken by being cheated on and just needed your best friend.

Coriolanus had just sat down for a dinner of gloopy mashed potatoes and water cabbage soup with Grandma'am and Tigris whenever a loud frantic knock sounded at the door. Since the Snow family didn't socialize with too many people (due to keeping their status of not having a pot to piss in on the down low) they knew that it could only be one of two people. You or Pluribus Bell, their neighbor.

Standing up, Coriolanus told the women at the table, ‘I'll get it, Grandma'am, Tigris. Just keep eating.”

“Invite whoever it is for dinner. It's not too late for us to include a guest, Coriolanus.” Grandma'am told her grandson before sipping on her watery cabbage broth. Only that old woman would act like they're holding a grand feast instead of eating a bland meal for peasants.

Coryo just nodded and thinly smiled at his Grandma'am, who he felt was growing more delusional by the day. “Of course, Grandma’am.”

“Go on, Coryo, before they break the door down.” Tigris shooed her cousin as the knocks on the door got louder and more frantic.

Honestly, Tigris was getting tired of doing ‘favors’ for the maintenance man in order to borrow tools or electrical tape, etc. She shuddered at the thought of how many ‘favors’ the maintenance man would want to sand out and fix a dented door.

“Y/N, baby, what's wrong? What happened?” Coryo asked as soon as he opened the door and saw you standing in front of him, looking like a heartbroken mess with mascara and tears staining your cheeks. Your eyes, usually so beautiful and bright, were dull and blood shot. And when all Coryo got for an answer was you bursting into years and flinging yourself at him, he knew that somebody hurt you. “Who do I gotta kill?” He seriously asked while wrapping his arms around you; giving you a hug.

A hug that was warm, tight, and protective all wrapped up into one.

“I caught Vinny cheating on me.” You told your best friend as sobs wracked your body.

If Coryo didn't already hate Livinius, well he definitely does now. How could that stupid asshole cheat on you? You're perfect. You're the entire package. Any man would be more than lucky to have you

Then, one thought popped into Coryo's head. The reason why you got cheated on. Coryo and you talked about a lot of stuff, including sex. You knew about how he lost his virginity in some ally behind a club when he was drunk (thanks to a bet by Festus) and he knew that you were on the fence post about going all the way with Livinius. That everytime things should go past foreplay you seemed to get nervous and stop things from going further. So, Coryo figured that Livinius Cardew got tired of blowjobs and handjobs; decided to find some whore to get his dick wet with.

“I hope you broke up with him.” Your best friend told you, because he really didn't want to see you get used and trampled on. Once a cheater always a cheater, or at least that's how the old saying goes.

Nodding against his chest, you sniffled, “Yes, I broke up with him.”

“How about we get you inside and cleaned up in the kitchen; then we'll join Grandma'am and Tigris in the dining room for dinner.” Coriolanus suggested, hoping that eating with him and his family would get your mind off of your recent breakup. Plus his family loves you, they’ll be able to help cheer you up.

Looking up at him through teary eyes, you sadly said, “Okay.”

Coriolanus rubbed your back and assured you, “You're heartbroken now, darling, but it'll mend. It won't hurt forever.” Breaking the hug, because he needed to get you inside of the penthouse, he said, “I'll make sure you forget all about that cheating bastard. We'll hangout, do whatever you want. Okay?”

“Okay.” You nodded, giving your best friend a sad smile.

Wrapping an arm around you, the platinum blonde simply said, “Come on, let's get you cheered up.’, while ushering you into his house.

And cheer you up he did. Coriolanus let you sleep over that night and listened to you vent about Vinny. He sat with you as you cried it out. Then he swore, as your best friend, that he'd never let anyone hurt you ever again.

Tags: @kuroosbby001 @purriteen @poppyflower-22 @meetmeatyourworst @whipwhoops @bxtchopolis @readingthingsonhere @savagenctzen @ryswritingrecord @erikasurfer @tulips2715 @universal-s1ut @thesmutconnoisseur @squidscottjeans @sudek4l @wearemadeofstardust0 @mashiromochi @gracieroxzy @belcalis9503 @shari-berri @aoi-targaryen @whiteoakoak @spear-bearing-bi-witch @gisellesprettylies @loverandqueenofdragons @qoopeeya @mfnqueen1 @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @v-love @swiftieblyth @joyfulyouthlover @harvey-malfoy @tian-monique @chxrrybomb22 @marvel-hiddles-stark @twinkletwinklenotastar @xjinnix @devils-blackrose @shellybellysstuff @zombicupcake3

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vivwritesfics · 5 months ago

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What Could Have Been

Lando Norris is dead. He isn't human, he doesn't remember being human. Well, he didn't remember, not until he saw her. Until he saw her and her baby bump.

Warnings: Death (not described, person is just dead), pregnancy, birth

Viv's AUgust Event

Lando Norris didn't remember being human. He didn't remember the joys that came with enjoying his favourite foods or the feeling of rain against his skin. He didn't remember what it was to be a human.

That's the way it was for so many demons, and it was a good thing. Those who did remember went crazy. They lost the demon part of themselves, but they certainly weren't human.

Lando didn't care about remembering his humanity. It wouldn't do him any good. He wandered the streets, the streets he didn't care to know from being human. It didn't matter to him, they were just streets.

But then he saw her. Hidden in the shadows, Lando saw saw her.

She was so pretty, that was the first thing he noticed. Even demons could appreciate beauty. But there was more than that. The longer he stared at her, the more memories came back. Fuck, he was remembering being human.

Lando had a whole life with this woman when he was human. They'd met when they were teenagers, had dated later on in life. He had been so in love with her, held her close any chance he got. The day he died, he'd left her behind, left her on her own.

Lando watched from the shadows, as the shadows, as she spoke to a friend. He knew the friend, but she wasn't important.

His girl turned to the left, and Lando saw a rather large baby bump. That baby was his. Well, the man that he used to be. Not his any longer.

She cradled her bump as she said goodbye to the other woman and continued with her shopping.

Lando followed her around the shop. If anybody got to close to her, they were mysteriously moved out of the way. Nobody was allowed to touch his girl.

He followed her to the cashier, followed her out of the store and followed her back home. The home they shared, he remembered that now. He remembered walking through that door after a long weekend at the track to her jumping into his arms. It didn't matter what time it was, she was always awake, always ready to jump into his arms.

He watched through black eyes as she placed her bags down on the the kitchen floor and stretched her arms up. Nobody was running to help her put the shopping away, and Lando hated it. Somebody should have been helping her. He didn't care who it was; somebody should have been helping.

She stopping putting away the shopping before she had finished and moved her hand over her bump. "I miss your daddy," she mumbled to it. "I miss him so much."

She moved through the apartment and made her way to the bathroom. As she did, Lando saw his opportunity. He put away some of the shopping, made it easier on her. But he didn't put it all away, made it seem like he hadn't done anything at all.

Lando watched over her. Until the day she died, he didn't stop watching over her.

He watched as, in the eighth month of her pregnancy, she was evicted from the apartment they shared. He used his demonic powers to help with the move in whatever way he could, until she was comfortable in her mothers house.

From the shadows he watched the birth of his son. His beautiful baby boy, the baby boy he would never get to hold. He was small and screaming and utterly, utterly, perfect. He looked just like him.

The first time his mother held him, she sobbed, cried out of him. But he couldn't be there, cursed to stay hidden in the shadows.

Watching him grow up was hard. He was so close but so far away. Sometimes he looked at Lando, and Lando thought he could see him. But when he waved, his son had no reaction.

His heart broke, but Lando never stopped watching over him.

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cozage · 1 year ago

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Hello!

Firstly, I love your work ❤️❤️

Secondly, I saw your 2k follower milestone post.

Could you do Trafalgar Law as a girl dad? Like with a black wife (I'm black and I want this man so bad lol)

Maybe with him finding out she's pregnant, then finding out it's a girl. Just how he'd take the news and how he'd treat their daughter.

And, if you have the time, maybe when she's older and wants to date somebody. Idk I feel like he's a protective loving father 🥲🥲

A/N: I could go on and on about Trafalgar Law as a Girl Dad. He was made to have a daughter. Characters: female reader x Law Cw: some talk about infertility and diseases, little bit of angst. Total word count:770

Girl Dad

Trafalgar Law was not expecting a positive pregnancy test. All signs had pointed he was infertile, a result of Amber Lead Sickness he had as a child.

Even despite that prognosis and you all being careful, the test in front of him was positive. He was going to be a father.

A part of him was ecstatic. The two of you had talked about kids before, through adoption or other options. But this child growing inside your womb was his child, made of DNA from him and his favorite person in the whole world.

He spirals a few times, alone in his office. What if the baby had Amber Lead Poisoning? What is the life expectancy of a child in this generation? What if the child spreads the disease to you and you get sick? Some nights he can’t sleep; he’s just up thinking about What-ifs.

He frets over everything during your pregnancy. If your BPM or heart rate is even slightly elevated, if your bloodwork is just slightly off, he starts to worry. He runs test after test, just to make sure everything is okay

Even things like the way the nursery room is set up stresses him out. If the bed is too big or if the blankets will be a problem, the risk of certain paints or old furniture. This man has studied so many medical diseases that he’s paranoid about anything and everything.

At week twenty he’s running a weekly scan and finds out it’s a girl. He breaks down in tears, thinking of his mother and his sister. He wished they could be here to celebrate with you all. But it’s only the two of you in his little doctor's office.

He wanted to find a more fun way to tell you the news, but his tears of joy tell you everything you need to know. Of course it’s a girl. You always knew he would make the best father for a little girl.

When she’s finally brought into the world, Law cannot stop staring at her. She has your skin and his eyes, and you’ve never seen a more beautiful combination for a human being.

Sometimes you’ll wake up in the middle of the night just to find Law holding her while she sleeps, completely transfixed on her. He’s always smiling like an idiot, just watching her sleep.

He is always whispering in her ear, telling her how much he loves her and how special she is. She grows up constantly hearing how much she is loved by everyone on the ship.

As she gets older, Law has a hard time saying no to her. She wants that cute princess dress? Of course she can have it. You’ve never seen this man bend his will so easily to another human. But he'd give her the moon if she asked.

He will dress up in tiaras and have tea parties. Everyone on the ship will! Sometimes you’ll be walking around and it will be strangely quiet, and you just know you’re little princess has gotten those boys doing her bidding in some way or another.

He sets up a little desk for her in his office when she turns three, and you are BAFFLED. The man never lets anyone in his office! And now your daughter has a DESK in there, full of crayons and coloring books and journals.

She has a knack for medicine too and loves to make her own “potions” (aka dyed water. Law isn’t THAT crazy) in the lab. He starts teaching her how to use pipettes and measure out liquids. Once she turns 8, he shows her how to run tests and read medical data. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

On the ship, she has full reign. Whatever she wants to do, she’s welcome to do it. Law only ever raises his voice at her when she’s in danger or when he’s scared.

On island visits, it’s a little bit different. He doesn’t like her to leave his side, even as she creeps into her teenage and young adult years.

He has a really hard time letting her have her freedom. He knows what kind of people wait around the corner of islands on the Grand Line, eager to get a girl of her stature and her beauty. He’s trained her how to fight, but he’s still desperate to protect her from the world.

It’s hard sometimes, having a husband who loves so deeply and wants to protect so much. You often have to be the mediator, reminding Law to be gentle and reminding your daughter that he just wants to protect her.

But you’re a family, and you always love each other and forgive each other. It’s not always perfect, but you would never trade it, and neither would Law.

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece x you #trafalgar law #law x reader #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law x y/n #law x y/n #cozage #✧˚law✧˚

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httpscomexe · 5 months ago

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Ensnared 4

Summary: There’s no escaping him, especially after your new not so little injury.

(Find What I’m currently writing by checking my pinned post)

Parings: Yandere!Logan Howlett x PlusSize!Reader

Warnings: (Individual warnings per chapter) Kidnapping, waterboarding, food and water deprivation, a lot of blood, manipulation, yandere Logan, mentions of past murder, slight description of injury. Logan is an official warning as approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) because Logan is a DRUG. PLEASE BE AWARE that this will be a NON-CON fic. Do NOT get attached if you do not like non-consensual fiction. I will not change my fic plans because somebody decided not to read the warnings. Thank you.

Tags: @sammyluvsfics

Word Count: 3736 (Find all chapters here) Chapter 5

P.S. If you’d like to be tagged, ask in the comments, you also have permission to send an ask, but make sure it is NOT anonymous, so I know your username, don’t worry, I’m scared of confrontation too. But this is a SAFE SPACE where I will not judge. Thank you again.

P.P.S. Everything with a gruesome description or horrifying act will also be in bold italic

“What- Oh.” He tilts his head a little. “I take it you found Vincent.”

You were speechless. This literal murderer had his hands on you to keep you still.

“I- I wanna go home.” Your voice shakes as you speak to him, and he takes a few steps forward, carefully walking you further into the cabin before closing the front door and locking it, a clicking sound coming from the lock. “Please L-Logan… Please don’t hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” He sounds confused, walking you backwards until your back hits a wall but he stays close to you, his hands moving up to hold your face as you shrunk against the flat surface.

“I don’t wanna die- Please don’t hurt me…” You whine, tears beginning to stream down your face.

“Baby, I’m not gonna hurt you…” He tells you, his voice steady and calm compared to yours. “Why would I ever hurt you?” You finally muster the courage, your head tilted down but you look up at him through your lashes.

“You killed Vincent-“

“She brought that on herself when she hurt you.” He tells you, one of his hands moving to hover over your bandaged wound.

“She didn’t deserve that…”

“Baby nobody gets to hurt you.” He tells you, his voice becoming desperate as he speaks to you. “Not even I should be able to hurt you…” He whispers, his body beginning to press against yours as you’re pushed impossibly further against the wall.

“No. No Logan.” Your voice cracks a little and another tear falls down your face. “This isn’t right. This isn’t okay. Please, I wanna go home.”

“This is your home. And this is my home.” He gently reaches up to push some hair behind your ear. “You don’t need to leave, and you will not leave. This is your home now. You. Are. Mine.”

You swallowed heavily; his eyes still stared into yours as you let his words settle in your head.

Not even I should be able to hurt you. He said. He won’t hurt you. “Logan. I don’t care what you do. But I will not stop fighting you.” You whisper, trying your hardest to keep your voice steady. “At every opportunity I have, I will run. And I will not stop running and fighting you, until you let me go.”

He’s quiet for a moment. Then his eyes seem to grow darker as he keeps you against the wall, one of his hands on your waist.

“I said I won’t hurt you. I never said I won’t lock you up.”

“Logan!” You shout, falling to the ground after he pushes you into a room, closing the solid door just as you reach it. “Logan let me out!” Yelling, and banging your fists on the door seems to do nothing, but you continue to do it anyways. Hoping he would be annoyed eventually.

But it was no good.

You finally give up after a while, at least an hour of banging on the door with your fists until your skin finally goes numb and red from the constant impact.

You throw yourself down, landing on a mattress that was sitting in the small room, not even covered by sheets.

The room was dark, and the walls and floor were made of concrete. So you stare at the ceiling, trying to think of another way you could get out.

But there were no doors. No vents. Nothing. Just the huge wooden door, a soft yellow light coming from the ceiling, and the cold, concrete walls.

It was quiet also. All you could hear was your breathing. You were sure the walls were soundproof, the thickness of them stopping even a scream.

So, you just lie there, wishing it would all end. And just as you’re about to close your eyes, you hear locks click, and the hinges in the door scream as the door is opened, Logan walking in with a plate of food and a glass of water. I will not stop fighting you.

“Hey, you should eat, you haven’t all day.”

You don’t answer him as you sit up and he crouches next to you, placing the plate of food on the bed for you.

“I’m not hungry.” You lie, your stomach rumbling as if on cue. The betrayal.

“Well, that doesn’t matter. You’re going to eat when I tell you whether you like it or not.” He tells you, lifting the plate and handing it to you. You take it in both hands, then you stare at him for a moment.

Your hands hover over the floor with the food on the plate, then you tilt the plate, all of the food falling off the ceramic before splatting on the floor.

And he sighs, his fists clenching at you then dropping the plate. It didn't break, but a crack was now visible from one side to the other, splitting it in half, and he growled a little.

“Was that necessary?” He asks you, his eyes boring into yours as you nod. “Clean it. Now.” You shake your head. Does he really think you would listen to him?

“No.” you tell him, your voice stern so he knows you aren’t doing shit.

“Clean it up now, or you will regret it.”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Yea. I won’t” He leans forward, getting closer to you. “I can still torture you; I can do things that only emotionally disable you, I don’t need to get physical if I can be psychological.”

“Well, you already have the psycho part down.” Burn.

“Right.” He groans as he stands up, leaving the room and closing the door behind him before returning with a plastic bag, paper towels, and a bucket. “Last chance.” He tosses the towels and the bag on the mattress next to you and you don’t move an inch. “Fine.” He walks away, moving to the other side of the room to open another door you hadn’t noticed before, revealing a bathroom, and you watch as he places the bucket under the bathtub faucet, turning it off once the bucket is full before walking back over, placing the bucket in the corner of the room. “Now come here.” Again, you don’t move. “Fuck…” He mumbles before storming over to you, grabbing you and pulling you up, roughly, but not enough to hurt you.

“Let go!” You shout as he pushes you to your knees in front of the bucket.

“You don’t give me the fucking orders.” He whispers harshly in your ear before forcing your head down into the bucket of water just before you're about to scream, causing all of the air in your lungs to be lost in the water of the bucket.

He keeps you forced under the water for about ten seconds, holding you still as you squirm uncontrollably, his fingers tangled in your hair. Then he lifts your head back up, and you force air down your lungs just before he pushes your head back into the bucket. Let me go! You scream, but the water only emits bubbles of air to the top of the water, your words unheard.

Your head is brought back up.

“Do you really think you can fight me?” He asks, one of his hands with his fingers still tangled in your hair, which was stuck to your wet face, and his other hand was wrapped around your arm to keep you still. “Tell me do you really think you can fucking fight me?” He asks again.

“Fuck you!” You squirm, his fingers pulling your hair roughly. “That hurts! You said you won’t hurt me asshole!”

“I’m not hurting you.” He tells you. Bull fucking shit. “I’m just holding you; you’re hurting yourself by fucking moving.” Fuck. You stop squirming, still breathing heavily from the assault. “Are you gonna clean your mess now? Or do you need a few more seconds under the water?"

“I’ll clean it.” You finally give in, and he lets go of your body before you snap up onto your feet to get away from him, and he slowly stands back straight.

“Get to it.”

You do, immediately going to the fallen food on the floor and cleaning it quickly, but making sure it’s all clean, throwing all of the trash in the little bag.

“Good girl.” Your stomach flips as he takes the bag, leaving you on your knees. “Now tonight, I guess you’re going to bed hungry.” He tells you, crouching down to your level. “And don’t try anything stupid. I’m watching.” He points to a corner in the room, where a little black camera was propped up. Watching.

“Okay.” You mumble, knowing damned well you weren’t going to listen to him for shit.

“Good. Now lie down.” He tells you, standing back straight as he shoves one of his hands into his jean pocket, watching as you move onto the mattress. “Night.”

He walks out without another word, switching off the light with the switch on the wall near the door, leaving the room in pure darkness.

As you’re lying down, hours pass. No sounds are heard except for the often rumble of your stomach. Part of you regrets not eating, but you needed to test his limits. Of course though, now you were starving, and the pain wouldn’t let you sleep.

You sit up, slowly placing your feet on the ground as you take small steps towards the door, careful not to trip on anything, not that there was anything to trip on, before your fingers find the light switch, casting the room in the same yellow glow. You knock, or rather bang your fist on the door a few times. With as much as you didn’t want him knowing you had to rely on him for food, you also didn’t want to starve.

“Logan!” You call for him, your voice cracking quietly from dehydration and not speaking for a while. “Logan!” You shout a little louder, tears threatening to fall as you bang harder on the door. It’s a small cabin, he was bound to hear you next to the door, he just didn’t want to see you. So you look around the room, thinking of anything else you could do.

Your eyes immediately find the camera, a little red blinking light indicating he was watching you. Rushing over to the corner, there was the bucket full of water sitting under it on the floor. You tilt the bucket, pouring the water over the concrete before lifting it, the metal weight decently heavy in your hands. “Okay…” Mumbling, you take a few steps back with the bucket, then you chuck it up at the camera in the corner, letting it fall back down to the ground before picking it up, and repeating the process a few times before the little light turns off.

Thinking you broke it by accident, you put the bucket down before the familiar clicking sound comes from the door, making you run over to greet him. Not exactly sure why you were excited. Right, you’re starving.

“What the fuck are you-?”

“I’m really hungry.”

“It is 3 in the morning.”

“Well, I don’t exactly have a clock to tell me that.” He begins to close the door, his head shaking in annoyance. “Wait!” You shout, and he stops to look at you again.

“What?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Well then you should’ve eaten earlier.”

“I’m sorry, Logan. But I cannot sleep, I’m literally starving.”

He considers you, staring you up and down, then he steps to the side, letting you leave the room before shutting the door again. You think about running, but you know he’s faster than you. So, you cut the idea out and listen.

“Come and look at what I have.” He tells you, moving past you and into the little kitchen.

He opens the fridge, and you look inside. There’s decent continents; eggs, milk, jam, and a few other things. Nothing to your appeal though.

“I- I don’t know-”

“I’ll make you a sandwich, go sit down.” He demands and you listen, moving past him to sit at a little table sitting next to a window.

Your eyes never leave him though as he pulls two cuts of bread out of a sandwich bag, laying them on a paper plate before taking peanut butter out of one of the cabinets, spreading it on one of the slices of bread.

“What kind of jam? Strawberry, blackberry, blueberry-”

“Strawberry is fine.”

He continues moving, reaching into the fridge for strawberry jam before opening it and spreading it on the other slice of bread, then slapping the two together.

“Here.” He hands you the plate, then moves back to the counter to put everything away.

You rip off a small piece and take an even smaller bite.

“Really?” He sounds defeated as he watches you nibble it.

“What…?”

“I don’t want to be here all night.”

You shrug. “Then go back to bed.”

“I don’t trust you yet unfortunately, or I would.”

“What am I gonna do?” You ask, taking another nibble.

“Something stupid.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Shut the fuck up and eat before I throw it away.”

You shut up, taking another small bite, and he watches you, another sigh escaping his throat as he leans against the counter and watches you with his arms crossed. You take the time it takes you to chew to look around a little. Your eyes darting quickly before taking another nibble. You spot a few things you’d be able to use against him. Some kitchen knives in a block, an umbrella, a grilling fork, only a few things to be used as weapons.

“Stop looking around and fucking eat, take bigger bites.”

You feel like you could cry as he raises his voice, it was like being judged by your own father the way he spoke, disappointment radiating from his lips.

“Sorry…” You mumble, your appetite being lost to his anger as you take an even smaller bite, not even on purpose before he shakes his head, grabbing the other chair and pulling it to you.

“Let me see this.” He takes the plate, ripping off a bigger piece than you before raising it in front of your face, urging you to eat it. Trying to feed you.

“Logan I-”

“Fucking, eat it.” He growls, and you open your lips, letting him feed you.

Feeding you until you shake your head, having eaten about ¾ of it before he tosses the rest, standing up and holding his hand out for you to take. Which you don’t.

“Also, Logan…" You mumble. “I’m cold, do you have any-”

“You’re not getting blankets unless you sleep with me.”

“What about warmer clothes?”

“No.”

You bite your cheek, not trusting sleeping with him, but you wouldn’t be able to sleep cold.

“Fine.” You whisper. “I’ll sleep with you, but please-” You pause, not sure if he’d even care. “Just please don’t touch me…” You beg a little, and he nods.

“I won’t.” He begins to walk towards the room. “At least not sexually.” What?

You lie there next to him. He didn’t touch you sexually, just as he had promised, but his arm was still wrapped around your waist, caging you against his body as his chest moved against your back each time he took a deep breath in his sleep. But your eyes remain open. The touch, the setting, everything. Everything was just so new and unusual to you, and you didn’t know how to feel, but your mind was definitely restless.

So you just lay there, hoping sleep would eventually take you, but you were silently praying a stroke would take you instead, just to end your pain.

When you do wake up, unsure of when you had fallen asleep, the weight of his arm is gone, letting you sigh in relief as you turn onto your back to stare at the ceiling. Not a single thought running through your mind as you just stare. But there was an unfamiliar sound coming from outside of the window as you lay there, making you turn your head towards the window, which was open, letting a cold wind drift into the room from the snow. In the distance was Logan, chopping wood in his flannel.

Then you have an idea.

He stops for a moment, turning around to look at you, but you close your eyes in a flash, not wanting him to know you’re awake, so after a moment, you open your eyes again, and he’s back to chopping wood with the large axe in his hand. He left it open to watch you.

You slowly get off the bed. You weren’t exactly dressed for stepping in snow. There were no shoes or even socks on your feet, and all you were wearing was a short black skirt and one of his shirts, which barely reached halfway down your thighs.

You reach the window, lifting it up all the way as he continues to swing at a log. Stepping through the window, the snow is cold on your bare feet, but you knew you wouldn’t ever have this opportunity to run ever again.

As soon as both of your feet are on the snow, which is about five inches off the ground, a generous amount that wouldn’t possibly slow you down (eyeroll), you take a single step, then another, your pace getting faster with each step before you’re going full sprint. Hell, you never would’ve guessed how fast you would be able to run through snow like you were without shoes. Mind you, it wasn’t that fast, and your feet quickly became numb.

“Hey!” Shit. You manage to run faster, sure enough he could definitely run faster. You saw the boots he was wearing. You realise, you fucked up. But you didn’t care.

I will run, and I will not stop running.

Your words replay in your mind, your feet moving impossibly fast in the snow as your pace is fueled by adrenaline.

“It isn’t safe Y/N! Stop fucking running!” He yells, continuing to chase behind you, the sound of his boots crushing snow getting closer only fueling more adrenaline through fear in your body. Making you run faster, and you know you’re moving faster than he is. But your feet were getting numb, preventing you from being able to run any further. So, once you're far enough, you rely on the fog from the snow to keep you hidden as you hide, ducking near some evergreen bushes until you knew you weren’t visible.

Your eyes land on his dark figure in the fog as he slows to a stop, spinning around trying to find you, making you quickly duck down before he sees you.

“Y/N!” He yells your name again, and it sounds almost urgent. “I’m being really fucking serious right now, you’re gonna get hurt!” He repeats, and you hear the crunching of his footsteps again, making you back away further, the size of the bush covered in snow keeping you hidden.

Your legs are completely numb as he doesn’t leave the area, your skin turning red from the cold snow, but you adjust yourself every time you think you’re in his point of view.

Then you feel relieved, leaning your head back against a tree as he lets out a disappointed sigh, you look over your shoulders to see him leaving, back in the direction of the cabin.

Then your hand snaps to cover your mouth, the snapping sound of heavy metal jaws is quiet, but Logan freezes as he hears the faint sound of it.

Tears fall down your cheeks. Yea, your legs were numb. But it still fucking hurt.

You build the courage to look down, your palm leaving your mouth as your eyes trail down your legs, a large bear trap clenched down on your right calf, the sight causing a painful squeak to escape your throat as you stared down at the rusty bear trap. The rust made it look old, like it had been sitting there untouched for years. Until you came along.

You look back over your shoulder, and Logan is gone, presumably ignoring the sound and heading back, so you lean forward, wrapping your fingers around the jaws of the bear trap before trying to pull it off, the teeth hadn’t sunk into your skin yet, only barely grazing it.

But then it snaps shut on your calf, causing a blood curdling scream to erupt from your throat, more tears streaming down your face. You swear the numbness only enhanced the pain.

Pained cries come from your throat, and you hear the crunching snow again, stopping at your side, making you look over as Logan stands beside you.

“See what I fucking told you?” He mocks you, bending down next to the bear trap and you watch him, but your eyes are mainly glued to the blood red crystals of snow that were slowly melting from the warm touch of your blood.

He takes a key out of his pocket. A big old one that looked as if it would unlock a dungeon, but it unlocks the bear trap, which he pushes back into place before taking your calf out of it, quickly removing his flannel to wrap around your leg, and you’re too stunned to speak.

He stands, now only wearing his jeans and white tank top, but you don’t have the energy to speak to him as he speaks to you.

Blood leaks from your leg, spilling into the snow as if it was infinite, some blood getting onto Logan's hands as he lifts you up, causing blood to drip from his flannel, the progressive amount already soaking the shirt as the little drops fall into the snow under you.

“Don’t run out again, there’s traps everywhere. Hunters too, and I don’t think you want a bullet in your forehead like Vincent.”

Your voice comes out tired, in a mumble. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me…”

“I didn’t. You hurt yourself. I told you to stop running.”

Fuck.

Once again, he was right, and the cabin was coming back into view.

You were never going to get away from him.

You realise, your vision begins to fade as the cabin becomes closer. Then there’s nothing as you pass out, your head falling against his shoulder as you faint…

#marvel #marvel smut #fanfic #marvel fanfiction #x reader #smut #wolverine #logan howlett #logan x reader #xmen #Ensnared #httpscomexe

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moonlightsolo · 2 years ago

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nga yawne lu oer; i love you.

summary: the rda murders a tulkun and dumps it for the metkayina to find. the village turns into a frenzy, wishing to fight for their brothers and sisters lives. lo’ak runs to warn payakan, but the creature is already marked for death. you and neteyam get split up, causing you to be captured by the avatar mercenaries. neteyam comes to your rescue, but is forced to help lo’ak save spider from the soldiers…

pairing: neteyam sully x fem!na’vi/human reader

warnings: graphic depiction of character death, weapons, blood, ptsd, non-descriptive implied smut :p, & quaritch.

note: pls leave feedback on this one. i put my heart n soul into it. i’m also not even listing the word count bc it’s embarrassing how long it is. (it’s 15k) yk it’s gonna be good so go read it rn

part one | part two | part three | part four

the deafening sound of a conch horn mixes in with the storm rolling over the village.

you, kiri, tuk, neteyam, and lo’ak all go silent. eyes worriedly dart to each other, staring in bewilderment as your brains ponder on what to do.

“we should go.” neteyam breaks the silence, spinning on his heel. he ducks down under the entrance to the marui and disappears around the bend. lo’ak takes no time to follow his brother, sprinting after him through the rain.

“come on. it’s okay.” you attempt to reassure the worried child. you grab tuk’s hand to walk outside with her and kiri, a few steps behind lo’ak and neteyam. your hand comes up to shield your eyes from the heavy rain falling from the ominous clouds.

as you get closer to the center of the village, the growing crowd of metkayina becomes more dense- this is not good.

“my spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!” ronal’s voice shouts from somewhere in the center of the irate group of villagers.

you grasp tuk’s hand so tight, afraid she might get lost in the crowd. you can barely make out neteyams head as he pushes through the metkayina, “i’m scared.” the girl whines from behind you.

“it’s okay. just keep your head down, tuk.” you mumble, wincing as somebody’s sharp elbow collides with your ribs.

you finally break free from the crowd, instantly spotting jake and neytiri standing in front of ronal and tonowari. neteyam and lo’ak are already standing behind their parents, so you quietly sneak over to them with kiri ahead of you.

the chief and his wife are on an elevated surface as they speak to their village, “this war has come to us! we knew about this hunting of our tulkun people, but it was over the horizon. far away! now, it is here!” tonowari shouts, and hisses angrily as he delivers the news to his people.

“you gotta understand how the sky people think! they don’t care about the great balance!” jake tries to calm down tonowari, but it just makes it worse.

“we don’t answer to sky people!” a metkayina raspily screams from behind you, making you jump.

“listen! listen to him!” neteyam urges them.

“the sky people are not gonna stop! this is only the beginning! you gotta tell your tulkun to leave! you gotta tell them to go far away!” jake shouts as he talks with his hands.

“leave?!” ronal shrieks, “you live among us and you learn nothing!”

“we will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!” a metkayina man steps forward, slamming his fist roughly against his chest.

the people yip and screech in agreement, and grow more wild by the second; howling and slamming the bottom of their weapons against the ground.

“no, no! if you attack, if you fight, then they will destroy you. it would destroy everything that you love!” jake yells.

your eyes dart around nervously at everyone, heart pumping wildly against your ribs.

the metkayina cry out as they stomp and grow even more furious. “hear my words!” jake desperately pleads the people.

“stay calm! stay calm!” neteyam tries to alleviate the chaos but it doesn’t do anything, “listen to my father! he speaks the truth!”

jake steps forward holding an orange spear-like beacon up to the crowd. the people go silent as they look at what he is holding.

“you tell the tulkun that if they’re hit by one of these they’re marked for death.” he breathes heavily, “and call for me. i’ll silence it.”

“saving their lives, that’s all that matters. right?” he looks around at the village, “saving your family.”

tonowari looks down at his wife, before taking a step up next to jake, “tell the tulkun.” he orders.

“go.” ronal urges, “go!”

lo’ak is quick to blend in with the moving crowd, which neteyam takes notice to. you hand over tuk to kiri, “i’ll be right back.” you say to them, quickly sprinting in the direction neteyam took off in.

just as you’re about to run past them, you spot the boys at the end of a dock arguing, “you gotta keep your skxawng ass here.” you overhear neteyam say to lo’ak.

“he’s outcast. there’s nobody to warn him but me!” lo’ak argues.

“bro.” neteyam sighs as he slaps his hand on top of his brothers head, “why do you always have to make things so hard?”

lo’ak pushes his hand off of him with a grunt, “no. you mean why can’t i be the perfect son like you? the perfect little soldier?”

neteyam takes a step back from him, chuckling angrily before stepping even closer to his brother- as if he is holding himself back from punching him. “i’m not you!” lo’ak shouts in his face.

you need to stop this before it gets too heated.

you run forward, out of breath as if you didn’t eavesdrop on everything that was said. just as you make it to them, lo’ak shoves neteyams arm off of his shoulder, “get off me.”

“lo’ak!” tsireya calls from the water on her ilu, coming in fast with ao’nung and rotxo.

before you know it, the youngest sully boy is diving in the water to his ilu and taking off.

“come on! he’s going to payakan.” neteyam grips your arm to pull you forward, making you stumble. his arm protectively wraps around your waist before he jumps into the water.

you suck in a sharp breath before the cool water envelopes around your bodies; one of his arms reaches back to he situate your body behind him. he grasps the reins of his ilu, and takes off in the direction of lo’aks trail.

he breaches the surface, making you gasp as the rain hits the top of your head. you can see lo’ak in the distance, “come back!” you scream out to him which just makes him go even faster.

kiri and tuk are off to the side, sat on an ilu in the water. “lo’ak!” both of them call after him.

“he’s going to find payakan!” you and neteyam yell out to them in sync.

“wait up!” kiri yells as neteyam dives back under the water to follow his brother. your arms tighten around his waist, trying your hardest to not fly off from the speed.

he chases him all the way to three brothers rocks where payakan is. the creature breaches the water as lo’ak calls his name.

the animal lets out a loud pained whine as it swims up to him. the tulkun turns in the water, revealing the same orange spear from earlier lodged into his back. this time, it’s beeping.

the younger boy jumps off of his ilu and onto his back to try and pull the machine out of its skin.

“oh shit! neteyam! they’re here!” you cry out when a huge ship appears from around one of the giant rocks.

“we need to help him.” neteyam leaps off the ilu and onto the tulkuns back, leaving you behind on its saddle. you mentally punch him for leaving you behind, but you know that all he was thinking about was getting his brother.

you take control of his ilu, wrapping your hand around the leather handle on the saddle to dive under the belly of payakan. you pull up to breach the surface on the opposite side.

your legs push up to leap off of the animal, and onto the back of the giant creature- just as tsireya, rotxo and ao’nung arrive and jump onto the creatures back.

you scurry over to help them pull the machine out, your hands attempt to grip the slippery surface of the beacon. it’s really stuck in there.

“call it in! call dad!” neteyam yells an order at his brother, who looks at neteyam as if his heart just fell out of his ass, “just go! do it!”

lo’ak scurries to stand up on the top of the animal as his hand flies to his throat to talk to jake through their comms.

even with five people pulling, there’s absolutely no budge. you let out a frustrated yell when your hands slip off of the damp surface for the hundredth time.

your eyes continue to glance behind you at the ship as you try to pull it out, “it’s getting closer!” you cry out in a panic. another harsh wave crashes against the side of the tulkuns body, sending a mist of sea water in everybody’s face.

your mind goes through every possible way you could get this thing out of it, “a rope! does anyone have a rope?!” you yell out, eyes looking over the four na’vi around you.

neteyam looks over at you, his chest heaving with exertion and terror, “a rope…” he breathes out, pausing for a moment to look around.

he makes a clicking sound with his throat, summoning his ilu back over to him. he jumps into the water to search through the packs on its side, “hurry up, bro!” lo’ak screams as he comes back from talking to their father.

neteyam unravels a long rope from inside, throwing the other end to you. it’s almost as if he read your mind when he wraps it around the ilu to utilize the animals strength to help.

you quickly snatch the thrown rope out of the air and begin wrapping it around the tracking beacon with the help of ao’nung.

“go, go, go!” the chiefs son tells neteyam, your head continues to check on the proximity of the ship. now they’ve discharged smaller boats into the water that are coming your way, “we have to hurry! they’re coming!”

neteyam gets on the back of his ilu, flapping it’s fins in the water to accelerate forward, now aiding in pulling out the beacon, “pull now!” he orders.

the four of you muster up all of your strength to try to force the beacon out of its skin, “hurry! we need to hurry!” tsireya cries out.

“pull! harder!” you whine, your hands burn from the scraping of the metal against your palms.

the beacon suddenly releases from the creatures skin, pulling the rest of you into the water along with it. payakan quickly takes off, the force pushes you even deeper into the rough ocean. you use all your might to swim up to the surface.

the first thing you see beyond the waves is neteyam swimming away with the beacon in his hand.

“no! neteyam! no!” you screech out for him as your stomach threatens to release the contents of your dinner.

you begin to panic; you can’t lose him. you attempt to swim towards him, but he’s quick to dive under the water with his ilu. there’s absolutely no way you’ll be able to catch up to him.

“come!” lo’ak grips your upper arm to pull you towards his ilu that he summoned, “he’ll be okay! come on!”

you reluctantly climb onto the back of his animal, wrapping your arms around lo’aks waist as he dives after the rest of them- now going the opposite way of neteyam. you can’t help but look back, in attempt to find him in the open water.

the boy halts underneath tall stalks of seaweed, hiding himself beneath the giant leaves as the boats pass by. you glance over at kiri and tuk hiding underneath the one beside you.

the main ship releases more boats, but ones that can now dive under the water. you tap lo’ak’s arm to get his attention, pointing at the submarines. he quickly takes off, dodging in between the sea grass to try and out run them.

they’re quick to follow, their lights bright and menancing as they chase all of you through the underwater foliage.

somehow, you and lo’ak get split up from the rest of the group. the boy quickens the pace of his ilu, causing you to tighten your grip around him and tuck your head into his back. he looks back for a moment at the ship, his panic growing from the enemies close proximity.

a second ship drops in front of you, making you scream out lo’aks name in the water. the boy sharply turns to the left to dodge the metal claws of the ship that reach out to grasp you.

lo’ak signs for you to jump off with him into the thick seaweed. your eyes go wide, but he doesn’t wait for a response from you. he launches himself off his ilu, but not without grasping your hand to bring you with him.

you grab ahold of a thick stalk of grass, using them to hurl yourself forward through the water as the ilu draws the ships away. lo’ak leads you to a grass pod with an air pocket, looking up into it to see his little sister inside.

he swims upward along with you, grabbing your hand to pull you up into the air bubble with him. “tuk!” you both shout in surprise.

before you could ask where kiri is, the ships lights grow nearer as the sound of its engines gets louder. “we have to go! it’s coming.” you shriek.

all three of you suck in a deep breath before plunging back into the water to swim in the opposite direction of them.

the ships start to surround you, giving you no other way than forward to swim away and escape. they’re too fast, you’ll never be able to out swim them.

one of the ships projectiles a net at all of you, catching only you and tuk inside of it. your limbs flail as you try to find a way out, pulling and tugging at the netted string but the material is too strong.

two ikrans dive into the water, grasping the net with their talons to hoist you and tuk out of the water. lo’aks fingers latch onto the outside as the soldiers take off into the sky towards the mother ship.

“no! let us out!” you grunt as your hands try to rip at the net. you take out the knife neteyam gave you, dragging the serrated blade over the strings.

“hold on!” lo’ak yells as he unsheathes his blade from his hip to start cutting the material, “look out! move your hand! move your hand!”

“hurry, lo’ak!” tuk whimpers in fear.

you and tuk scream as you’re dropped onto the hard pavement of the ship, now surrounded by armed avatars.

lo’ak moves away from the net, standing with his back toward you and tuk in attempt to protect you. he snarls and growls at the soldiers with his knife still in his hand, ready to attack at any second.

“drop the weapon!” “put the weapon down!” they shout at him.

the boy steps forward, attempting to stab one of the men but they easily dodge his attack and shove him to the ground. two of them pin his arms beside him as he struggles under their grasp.

“no!” you screech, seething at the aggressors. you kick and wiggle as you attempt to push the heavy net off of you and tuk.

finally, you spot an opening. “come on.” you’re the first to emerge from the net, with tuk right behind you.

both of you try to protect yourselves with your blades but the lab-made na’vi are too strong.

one of them grips the back of your neck, forcing you to the ground, while another grabs tuks wrist for her to drop her knife.

“hey! hey! what are you doing? stop!” someone shouts from behind you, “stop! don’t hurt them!”

tuk yelps from beside you as she is held hostage by a soldier, trying her hardest to wriggle out of their tight grip.

your head turns on the wet pavement, looking behind you to see spider talking to lo’ak; the human boy is being held back by two men.

you snarl at the man on top of you, his knee sitting painfully on your back to hold you down. “knock it off! stay still!” his knee presses harder into your spine, making you cry out in pain.

“you’re hurting her! stop!” spider screams out at the man on top of you.

one of the avatar men on the ikrans hops off of the animal, his heavy boots stomping on the damp ground.

“get back to the bridge.” he points at spider, ordering the soldiers beside him to bring him back inside, “and keep ‘em there!”

that man’s voice, that american twang sounds familiar. it’s the man from the forest, the one who held kiri, lo’ak, and tuk hostage- the one who stole spider; it’s quaritch.

“yeah, i remember you.” he looks down at lo’ak, who hisses in reply.

“cuff ‘em to the rail. all of ‘em.” he points.

finally, the pain is alleviated from your back as you’re forced to your feet. you don’t dare to try and wiggle out of the grip, knowing the attempt would end up with you getting hurt somehow.

“get on your knees. on ‘em.” the soldier behind you kicks the back of your legs, making them give out so you would fall to the ground. you grimace as the pavement cuts open the skin on your knees, hissing at the man behind you.

your hands are brought in front of you, and handcuffed to the rail along with tuk and lo’ak.

“fuck you!” you seethe through your teeth, your slightly sharpened canines bare wildly at the men. the soldier behind you goes to back hand you, making you cower to prepare for the blow.

quaritch takes a step toward you, with a simple raise of his hand he stops the mercenary from hitting you.

“this one’s red-hot.” he chuckles alongside his soldiers as he stares down at you with a cocky sneer.

“and where are you from?” he squats down to your level, looking over you intently. his gaze makes you uncomfortable, “you’re not blue like the rest of ‘em… yet you breathe our air.” he hums curiously.

“i’m not telling you shit.” you spit out, your voice dripping with venom.

tuk grunts beside you as she tries to pull the handcuffs off the railing. your eyes slightly glance over at her, your heart aching for her.

“half human, half na’vi.” he unsheathes his combat knife, pressing the tip of it into your chin to angle your face up towards him.

the sharp tip of the knife pricks at your skin, daring to slice into it even from the most subtle movement from you.

“let her go! don’t hurt her!” lo’ak barks out, earning a kick from a soldier next to him.

“mm, i’ve seen you. the forest right? you’re sully’s oldest sons girl, aren’t you?” the man tilts his knife to control your head as he examines you.

“like i said… i’m not. telling. you. shit!” you hiss out, trying your hardest not to move your jaw from the knife being so close to cutting into you.

he finally pulls back when the loud yipping sounds of na’vi start to grow closer, stuffing his knife back into its cover on his hip, “na’vi inbound!” a soldier yells.

your head turns toward the sound, watching them all fly in on their tsuraks. the soldiers around you ready up, aiming at them with their weapons.

the na’vi in the water halt, sitting dormant in the water as if they’re examining the people onboard.

“dad!” tuk calls out desperately.

quaritch rips off lo’aks comm device from his neck, connecting it to himself to be able to talk to his father.

“jake, tell your friends to stand down. you want your kids back, you come out alone.” he speaks to him, “you know better than to test my resolve.” he pulls a handgun from his side, cocking it and pressing the barrel against the back of lo’aks head.

“no! lo’ak!” you gasp, grunting as you pull harder on your restraints.

“i took you under my wing, jake. you betrayed me. you killed your own,” he continues, “good men. good women. i will not hesitate to execute your kid.”

you begin to weep, out of rage and fear. hot angry tears streak your salty face as you tug on the handcuffs that refuse to budge. “please.” you beg, “don’t hurt him.”

your words earn a blow from a steel-toed boot against your ribs, “shut up, stupid girl.” the air punches out of your lungs as you keel over from the pain.

“offers fixin’ to expire. what’s it gonna be?” quaritch speaks into the comm.

in the distance, you watch a single tsurak start to swim forward away from the group of na’vi soldiers. it’s jake sully, he’s coming. but if he comes up here, he will die. you cannot let any of them die.

your breathing is erratic as your brain goes into overdrive, thinking of every possible way to get out of this. to save jake, lo’ak, and tuk- not even worrying about yourself at this point.

“easy shot.” a bald avatar says, but quaritch lowers the man’s weapon with his hand, “you hit them now, they attack. wait till he’s on board.”

lo’ak growls loudly from his words, causing the gun to press harder into the back of his head.

the next moments seemingly play out in slow motion. something you would have never assumed to be a possibility.

lo’aks tulkun breaches the water, launching himself over the boat as it bellows loudly in the sky. the crew begin to scurry as payakan falls down, squashing multiple soldiers beneath its heavy body.

water splashes all over the three of you, shrieking in surprise as the entire ship rocks and groans from the blow it just took.

the crew begin to shoot at him, but payakan slides a fin across the ground to pummel them. lo’ak kicks a soldier to make him stumble forward, helping out payakan so he could slam his fin down onto the man.

the tulkuns fluke rises into the air before crushing a crane and sending a smaller ship flying.

your eyes dart towards the water, smiling wide as the metkayina and jake charge towards the boat. “they’re coming!” you yell to lo’ak and tuk.

payakan dodges an incoming explosive spear, sending it somewhere onto the ship to detonate with a loud boom. the tulkun let’s out one last deafening roar before slipping back into the water, but not without taking down a few more men.

“sully’s inbound! i want eyes on!” quaritch orders as he steps away from the three of you.

a gunship is inbound in the sky, shooting multiple rounds into the water where the fleet of na’vi soldiers are underneath.

an ikran drops out of the clouds, appearing out of no where. a banshee from the forest, it’s neytiri.

the aircraft is quickly taken down, exploding into pieces as it pummels into a bank of rocks.

you watch the fight in the water, wincing at every person the na’vi brutally take down. “we need to get out of here.” you whine, pulling on your handcuffs with all of your strength.

“come on! come on!” you cry out as your feet push against the railing, trying your hardest to free yourself.

an explosion rocks the ship as a boat flies from the water and catches an engine on fire as it revs up. the main ship that you’re on accelerates forward at a terrifying speed.

“oh shit! oh shit! hold on!” you brace yourself as it runs over a bank of rocks, catapulting it into the sky, making it catch air underneath it’s belly.

the three of you hover in the air, the handcuffs being the only thing keeping you from flying away. the ship roughly crashes into the water, sending all three of you hurling towards the ground.

“you okay?” lo’ak asks you and tuk, before busying himself to try and pull at the restraints again.

“this boat is going down, and we need to get off of it right now!” you screech in a panic, leaning forward to try and rip the handcuffs off with your teeth.

in your peripheral vision, you see someone launch themselves out of the water and land on the pavement. your mouth pulls away from the material of the handcuffs, a giant smile pulling up on your face.

“neteyam!” tuk yells in excitement.

“i have never been so relieved to see you!” you cry out in happiness.

“need some help?” he teasingly asks as he bends down and unsheathes his knife. the blade easily slices the fabric off of your wrists. you fight yourself from leaping forward to plant a big fat kiss on his perfect lips.

“shut up. come on. get us loose.” lo’ak hurries his brother as he goes down the line of people, cutting the restraints.

your wrists are sore as you pull them towards your body, but that’s the least of your worries right now.

once tuk is loose, she throws herself at you for comfort. you quickly reciprocate by wrapping your arms around her to hold her close.

“it’s okay. get tuk out of here.” neteyam says to you as he steps over to lo’ak.

“what? no! i’m not leaving you.” you protest, making him growl in annoyance and send you a sharp look.

“bro, hurry up!” lo’ak complains, shaking his wrists against the metal railing.

“just go! i’ll be right behind you!” he yells back at you, as the knife cuts through lo’aks handcuffs, “who’s the mighty warrior, huh?” you hear neteyam say to his brother. that would make you laugh if you weren’t so worried right now.

you swiftly lift tuk up, running to the edge of the boat. you’re just about to jump, but tsireya pops up at the surface on her ilu. “here! bring her to me!”

tuk unravels herself from around you to hop onto the back of tsireya’s animal. the little girl looks up at you worriedly, “it’s okay, tuk. we’ll be right behind you!”

tsireya nods and shoots you a worried smile before diving under the water. you quickly turn on your heel to see lo’ak has been freed and snagged an assault rifle from a fallen soldier.

“come on. let’s go.” just as neteyam is about to run towards you, lo’ak goes the opposite way.

“they‘ve got spider. we’ve gotta get him. come on.” lo’ak motions with his head, “come on, bro! we can’t leave him.”

neteyam grunts loudly in frustration, and slams a fist against the ground before standing to his feet. he takes a moment to acknowledge you, looking over your body. his eyes catch the bloody scuffs on your knees, and a few scratches and bruises that litter your skin.

he steps forward, hands cupping your face. “are you alright?” he asks worriedly, his hands guide your body to turn in a three-sixty. his eyes look over your back for any sign of serious injury; like father like son.

“i’m okay, i’m okay. i swear.” you breathe out, slightly in a bit of shock but otherwise you’re okay.

your hands come up to rest against his rapidly rising chest, feeling his soft skin beneath your fingertips. you look up at him, his golden eyes are already staring down at you.

“seriously, bro? this is not the time for a reunion!” lo’ak shouts with evident annoyance in his voice.

neteyam chuckles from his brothers words, leaning down to swiftly peck your lips, “go find a weapon. any weapon.” he urges you.

you smile up at him before scurrying around to try and scavenge anything from the soldiers that are scattered on the ground. you find the knife neteyam gifted you lodged under one of the dead soldiers bodies, you can’t help but feel the sharp blade with the pad of your thumb.

thank eywa, you would hate yourself for eternity if you lost it.

neteyam grabs your hand to pull you along with him and his brother through the many hallways of the boat, with lo’ak leading.

“we have to climb.” neteyam whispers in your ear as your eyes follow lo’ak. the boy easily scales the wall by holding onto pipes. neteyam goes next, “watch me.” he climbs slowly for you.

you watch the exact placement of his feet and how he grips the metal with his hands. he follows the pipes up the wall and onto the ceiling, hanging upside down. “come on, you’re next. you can do it.”

you take a deep breath before hopping onto the pipes, copying his movements. until you’re hanging upside down and slowly climbing over an open room filled with the ships crew.

“evacuating, people. come on! let’s go!” a human man runs by screaming underneath you.

you squeak when your grip slightly falters, making neteyam stop in his tracks to look down at you through his legs.

“for the love of the great mother, please don’t fall.” he says to you, but it sounds as if he’s talking to himself.

the three of you slowly inch forward once the soldiers pass until you finally reach another metal platform. lo’ak is the first one to fall down, landing easily on his feet and then neteyam.

you’re still hanging on for dear life, not sure how you’re going to drop down that far without hurting yourself. especially your recently mended broken ankle.

“just fall! i’ll catch you!” he quietly calls up to you.

“are you sure? will you actually catch me?” you cry out, your muscles shaking under the pressure of holding up your entire body weight.

“yes! trust me!” he whisper-yells up to you, “lo’ak, help!” neteyam hisses at his brother.

before you could make the decision for yourself, your overworked muscles give out. you fall downward toward neteyam, your feet flail in the air. the scream that threatens to burst out from your lungs is held inside, scared it would give you away to the crew.

instead of feeling the pain of the pavement and metal coming in contact with your body, neteyam and lo’ak catch you.

your eyes are wide as you look over their shocked faces, “i can’t believe i just fell.” you breathe out as they put you down on your feet.

“gracefully, of course.” neteyam teases you with a wink, his hand pushes gently against your lower back to lead you in between him and his brother as they walk forward.

lo’ak slowly starts to creep forward until he reaches the end of the yellow platform you’re on.

a few soldiers are walking by with spider, so the sully brothers take the opportunity to jump on top of them to attack. lo’ak uses his gun he found to swing and hit a few of the men, instead of actually pulling the trigger. neteyam punches a few of them and tosses one of them overboard.

you can do this, you can do this.

with a deep breath, you jump down from above. you land on top of the shoulders of one of the men, using the blunt handle of your knife to hit him across the face. your thighs suffocatingly squeeze around his head until he falls to the ground unconscious.

the man falls forward directly on his face after losing to your battle, giving you the opportunity to land gracefully on your feet.

you let out a gasp when gunshots go off behind your back, spinning around with wide eyes to see who was shot- but it’s thankfully just lo’ak using his gun on one of them.

you stand up from your spot, panting as all of you look over the bodies of the men you just took out.

“oh, hey!” spider huffs out towards you, his chest huffing. you awkwardly wave at him, giving him a small smile. “we should go.” the human boy says next.

“let’s go.” neteyam says to you, grabbing your hand and jumping off with you to the lower ground floor.

“thanks, guys.” spider says breathlessly once all of you land safely.

your mouth opens to reply, but across the room two avatar mercenaries emerge and spot the four of you, “oh no.” you breathe out.

“go!” spider screams, his voice slightly cracks.

lo’ak attempts to aim and shoot, but neteyam shoves his gun down and pushes him forward.

“go, go, go!” neteyams hand tightly grips your wrist to pull you behind him as he runs forward, ducking his head to dodge the bullets.

“oh fuck! oh shit!” you screech as you’re blindly lead by neteyam as the bullets fly past your head.

the four of you scurry behind a wall. neteyam pushes you towards spider, the force making you stumble into the boy. neteyam snatches lo’aks gun from his hands, “give me that!”

he barely aims the gun at the men, and just starts pulling the trigger, “go, go, go!” he shouts, and points towards the open water.

spider and lo’ak are the first to jump, but you refuse to leave neteyam behind, “go! what are you doing? get out of here!” he screams at you, hiding behind cover before going to shoot at them again.

“screw that! i’m not leaving you, neteyam!” you argue with him, pressing your back farther into the wall as the bullets shoot into the concrete behind you.

“aah fuck! why do you have to be so stubborn?” he grunts at you, continuing to shoot at them. his gun clicks, indicating he’s out of ammo.

“come on!” he throws the gun to the side, extending his arm to grasp your hand tightly to run towards the water.

the soldiers continue to shoot at you until you both leap over the yellow railing and into the ocean. something hard pelts your right shoulder, making you wince as you fall towards the ocean.

the pressure of the water makes your hands separate, screaming out his name as he is sucked away from you.

once your eyes open under the salty seawater, all you can see is bubbles and the usually blue water is slightly stained red. your arms lift to paddle under the boat, but an excruciatingly sharp pain shoots from your right side.

using your left arm, you swim under the boat and pull yourself to the surface on the other side. gasping for air, you cry out hoarsely and cough as you bob under the water. the salty liquid fills your mouth whenever you try to speak.

“come on!” you hear tsireya’s voice coming from somewhere, but the waves continue to knock roughly against your head. every time your head sinks under the water, the crimson color worsens.

“neteyam!” you gargle out. every word you attempt to speak sparks at your nerve-endings, fueling the fire of the agony that ripples throughout your entire body.

“oh shit. she’s shot!” lo’ak screams, the sound of rapid swimming grows louder as someone comes over to you.

just as your body starts to sink again, an arm strongly slides under your arms from around your back. you gasp for air once you breach the surface, sputtering out the water inside of your mouth.

“help me! someone help me!” neteyams voice is loud next to your head, making your ears ring. your breath rapidly puffs from your mouth as you seek for some sort of solace from your pain.

another arm wraps around your body as you’re dragged forward in the water. you cough but instead it comes out like a wheeze. oh, that’s not good.

your eyes slightly squint open, only being able to see flashes of blue as your limp body is tugged onto the saddle of an ilu.

you let out a piercing cry as you’re forced to sit up on the animal. instinctively, you want to curl in on yourself, but the person behind you holds you up with their arms around your abdomen.

“it hurts!” you sob out loudly, which crying just makes the pain even worse. it feels as if the right side of your body has been replaced with ice and electricity that is wired directly to your spine.

you overhear spider say something along the lines of, “she’s bleeding really bad.” which makes the panic grow even more in your chest.

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry! everything is gonna be okay. bro, go!” neteyam shouts from behind you, pulling you back against his chest.

the ilu underneath you chirps as it takes off in the water, “it’s okay. we got you, i got you. hurry up!” his voice cracks as he desperately screams at his brother.

“i’m trying!” lo’ak shouts back at him as the ilu picks up speed to rush forward.

“they have kiri and tuk!” tsireya cries out from the fin of the ilu, making your eyes burst open from a rush of adrenaline. “we… have to go back!”

you attempt to sit up but instead you fall forward weakly onto lo’aks back in front of you. your cheek presses flat against his damp skin as you struggle to breathe, “we can’t! we can’t go back!” lo’ak yells out, continuing forward.

“dad-! eagle eye! y/n is shot! we need help!” neteyam uses his comm to talk to his father. his voice is frantic as he speaks to him, making you think your wound is worse than you think.

“hurry, lo’ak! dad is over there.” the boy behind you slightly moves, indicating that he’s pointing in a direction you can’t see.

it seems like an eternity until the ilu slows down, the creature squaks loudly in the rough water as the waves crash over your bodies.

“help!” neteyam shouts from behind you as he jumps into the water, “lo’ak, lower her to me!”

you let out a hoarse cough, your breathing still coming out in short bursts. you can barely open your eyes as you’re lowered into the rough water by lo’ak.

neteyam grabs ahold of your head, cradling you in his arms along with tsireya and spider holding onto your body so you wouldn’t float away.

“hurry!” she yells over the sound of the waves breaking against the shore.

“oh no.” you hear jake rush over to your side, opening your heavy eyelids to see him leaning over you from standing on the rock.

“hurry, please!” neteyam cries out, holding onto you tight.

“it’s gonna be okay, baby. i promise. my dads gonna help you.” his voice shakes as he speaks to you.

you raspily cough as another wave pelts your bodies, gurgling out the water as your head lulls to the side. “no, no, my love. stay with me.” one of his wet hands cups your cheek to pull your face back up, “hurry up! pull us up!” he yells at his father.

it seems like everybody’s hands are on you as you’re lifted out of the water and into the air. two different hands cradle your head, and others hoist your legs up.

you’re gently laid down onto the surface of the rock, a sob wracks through your lungs as you wheeze.

your breath comes in short, ragged gasps as you struggle to calm your racing heart. your chest feels tight, as if an invisible noose is constricting around your lungs.

your eyes finally open fully, tears clouding your vision. neteyam and jake are the ones directly beside you, their heads covering the cloudy sky.

“hold on.” jake warns you as he lifts you up to inspect the exit wound on your shoulder. your wound throbs, exploding in your head with a blinding whiteness.

the feeling makes you squirm, and gasp from the sheer amount of agony.

neteyams hand desperately holds onto yours, his watery eyes look down at you before glancing up at his dad. “do something! help her!”

the air whips around your body, causing your wet skin to feel colder than it should. your hand grips neteyams tightly, practically crushing his fingers.

jake presses one of his large hands against your chest to create pressure on your bleeding wound. you hiccup out a weak cry from the tenderness of it, writhing under his hand.

“it’s okay. it’s okay.” jake shooshes you gently, his eyes darting to his eldest son with a worried look.

“nete...” you croak out between your rapid breaths, making the boy look down at you.

“everything’s gonna be okay. i’m so sorry.” he repeats, making you shake your head. he goes to protest but neytiri arrives on her ikran, leaping off and rushing over to join the crowd gathered around you.

she gasps in shock and drops to her knees beside neteyam, one of her hands comes up to rest on your knee for comfort.

you give her a weak smile, your bottom lip quivering as you do so. you look over the people around you, seeing how they’re all crying for you. wow, it really seems like you’re dying right now.

jake sits back, his hand still pressed firmly on your chest. he looks off in the distance as if he’s listening to something.

“where are your sisters?” he questions neteyam and lo’ak, his eyes darting between them, “your sisters. where are they?” his voice grows louder.

“they’re on the ship.” you groan out, sputtering out a wet cough.

jake looks down at you, his eyes widening in fear. “neteyam, you stay here with her. keep pressure on it, it didn’t go all the way through. we’re gonna go get them.” jake transfers the job over to neteyam to keep you alive, and you can see the panic on the boys features.

neytiri stands alongside jake, ready to fight for her daughters, “where exactly are they?” jake asks you, but you have no idea.

“they’re.. they’re at the moon pool.” spider looks up at jake who’s face contorts in confusion, “at the well deck. midships?” he tries to simplify it, but somehow makes it more complicated.

“come on, i’ll show you.” spider stands and motions to the water.

“lo’ak, come!” neytiri calls her son, motioning towards her ikran for him to follow her.

the younger boy wipes his tears and taps your leg, “you better be all good by the time we get back.” he points at you as he was threatening you.

a shiver wracks your body, but you smile at him through the pain, “she will, yeah?” neteyam looks down at you with a watery smile, making you nod in response.

jake crouches beside you one last time, his hand resting on the top of your head. “try to control your breathing, okay? i know it hurts, but hyperventilating will make it worse. we’ll come back for you.” he gives you a soft smile before standing up to walk away with spider towards the water.

nausea starts to rise in your belly from the immense pain, making you feel as if you’re going to pass out.

before anything happens, you have to let neteyam know how you truly feel about him. you don’t care that tsireya is beside you, the only thing that matters right now is him.

“neteyam…” you cough roughly, forcing him to look down at you, “yes, yes, my love. i’m here.” his voice trembles.

you admire his saddened features for a moment; how his skin crinkles between his eyebrows, how his perfect lips quiver… the streak of your blood that runs across his cheek from inevitablely tucking his unruly braids behind his ear, and his big round eyes that are glassy with tears. he’s trying his hardest to bottle in his emotions to stay strong for you, to keep you calm… your love for him is unconditional.

“i love you. i always have.” your voice is almost like a whisper.

a sob escapes from his lips, dropping his head down onto your forehead softly before lifting back up to look down at you.

“nga yawne lu oer.” you repeat, choking on a cough that burns at your throat. you can feel your head growing lighter and lighter from the amount of blood you’re losing.

he can tell by the dim look in your eyes that your condition is worsening by the second, “i love you so much. more than anyone would ever know.” his voice cracks as his emotions finally spill over.

his head hangs between his shoulders as he sobs, his body shakes with each one that tears through him. you muster up the rest of your strength to lift your arm to cup his cheek and tilt his head towards you.

and suddenly, once his eyes are on yours, the feeling of warmth spreads throughout your cold, damp body. the pain slowly starts to fade as your mind succumbs to the sleepiness tugging at your brain. his golden eyes lull you to sleep, your hand drops from his face and lands on your body with a thud.

neteyam’s heart rate picks up as he watches you go limp and your hand intertwined within his loses it’s strength, “no, no, no, no!” his eyes frantically look over your face as your eyelids fall shut.

“no!” he screeches in pain, it feels as if his heart has been ripped in two. he cries out your name as he lifts your upper body up to cradle you, “please no! great mother, please-!” he’s cut off when his voice cracks and goes an octave higher than it should have.

tsireya cries silently next to you, her hand reaches out to rest on his shoulder for some sort of comfort to him.

neteyam pulls your body close to his, tucking your head under his chin as he rocks you back and forth, “my love, you can’t leave me. i’m so sorry. i should have protected you.”

the boy feels himself growing smaller as he holds your limp body in his arms. this heartbreak is different for him. it feels cold and weighs heavy in his chest like drying concrete. he should’ve put you in front of him- he should’ve taken the bullet for you.

your body twitches in his grasp, making him pull back to look down at you. he leans down to bring his ear to your mouth, feeling the very subtle puffs of air leaving your nose.

before he could rule out your death, his fingers find the pulse points scattered along your body. your heartbeat is weak, but still there underneath your skin.

“she’s alive.” he whispers into the air in shock, his eyes look at tsireya, “she’s alive! she’s breathing!” he exclaims through his tears.

“we can’t wait for them. we need to get her to the village right away.” tsireya stands to run to the water to summon her ilu with a few clicks emitting from her throat.

the animal chitters as it’s head breaches the surface. neteyam picks you up to walk you to the edge, tsireya helps him into the water with you and onto the saddle with her before she takes off back towards awa’atlu.

…

the sound of beeping is the first thing you hear when you wake up, and the sound of your own sluggish breathing. something is tightly wrapped around your right arm, your shoulder, and across your breasts; to replace your top.

slowly, your eyes begin to flutter open, instantly being met with a pair of glowing yellow eyes belonging to norm.

maybe you died and woke up back in the forest.

“hey, good morning. how you feelin?” he asks you before glancing down at a tablet in his hand.

your brain takes in everything around you, all the gear brought in by norm and most likely max too. the marui you’re in is tiny, definitely not the one you lived in with the sullys. the iv stand that holds a bag of fluids that’s connected to your good arm. the amount of mobility in your neck isn’t the greatest, forcing you to only be able to use your eyes.

you can tell you’re laying on a cot with a blanket over your body; a familiarly weaved one.

as you blink away the sleep from your eyes, your memories starting to flood back into your brain. panic settles in the deepest part of your chest, washing over your body like a tidal wave, “where’s neteyam?” your hoarse voice croaks nastily from your throat being tremendously dry.

norm motions behind him with his head, “he’s sleeping over there. he’s been waiting for you to wake up for quite a bit now.”

your head painfully turns to the side to look at your boy, who is sleeping sitting up. his arms are crossed over his chest, eyelashes fluttered shut over his cheeks. he looks so peaceful.

“what happened?” you mumble softly, now turning your attention back to norm.

“well…” he sighs, “you were shot and we had to get the bullet out that was lodged in your right lung. you’re honestly really lucky to be alive.” norm simplifies it with a pitiful smile as he looks at you, “now, let me wake your lover boy up.”

norm stands to take a step towards neteyam, slightly shaking his shoulder to tell him that you’re awake. you notice how is arms are the first to fall, then his head. his body suddenly realizes it’s time to wake up, and then his eyes open. he blinks wildly as he attempts to understand what norm is saying to him.

then his eyes are on yours, his golden-honey colored eyes you adore so much.

neteyam practically shoves norm out of the way to crawl forward, sliding on his knees. before speaking any words to you, he leans down to press a gentle kiss against your lips which you gladly reciprocate; so soft it’s almost as if he’s afraid he would break you.

“…and that’s my cue to leave.” norm shuffles out of the marui to give you two some privacy.

“i can’t believe you’re awake. i thought i was going to lose you.” his eyes refuse to look at you as he stares at your heart rate on the monitor, his breathing hitches as he fights back tears.

“neteyam… you know nothing could break us apart, not even a bullet.” you say jokingly, which he slightly chuckles at.

you try to laugh along with him, but a cough replaces it instead. pain shoots through the right side of your body, but thankfully not as bad as it was before. he frowns at your discomfort, his hand on your upper arm rubs soft patterns into your skin.

“i’m never going to let you out of my sight again. you know that right?” he lets out a breath, leaning down to lay his chin against your good shoulder. he looks up at you with his pretty smile.

“wait, is everyone else okay? kiri? tuk?” worry settles in your chest. you didn’t even get to find out if they were rescued before you went unconscious.

“don’t worry. everybody is okay. scratched up, but okay.” he breathes out, his eyes dance over your face before leaning down to kiss you once more.

before your lips could even graze against each others, someone clears their throat from the entrance of the marui.

neteyam lifts his head up, his ears pinning back in embarrassment when he sees his dad standing there. you can’t help but smile at jake sully, happy to see him in one piece.

“hey, kid.” he ducks his head as he takes a step inside. as he grows closer, you notice the stitched cuts that litter his blue skin.

“ouch. what happened to you?” you jokingly ask him, which makes the man laugh softly as he squats down to the level your cot.

“could ask you the same thing. how ya feeling?” he briefly looks over at his son before back at you.

“i’m alive… and probably on a bunch of pain meds so i’m feeling ppprrretty good.” you softly laugh out, slightly wincing from the dull pain.

“alright, come on in.” he waves at doorway.

you watch as two pairs of eyes emerge from the doorway, belonging to tuk and kiri. the little girl smiles when she makes eye contact with you, running over to your side.

kiri takes her time to walk up to you, sitting beside her older brother as tuk pushes her dad out of the way to hug you.

“gentle, gentle.” jake warns her.

“i missed you.” she whispers. your free arm pats her back, before she pulls back and sits down next to her dad.

your free hand is quickly taken away from tuk as kiri grabs it and holds onto you. “i thank the great mother everyday for keeping here you with us.” her serene voice speaks softly to you.

“i’m so happy all of you are okay.” you feel your emotions starting to get the best of you, a small tear slides out of the corner of your eye.

“we’re so happy that you’re okay.” jake says, smiling m down at you.

“where’s neytiri and lo’ak?” you slightly clear your throat, your eyes darting over the sully’s surrounding you.

almost divine timing as lo’ak slides through the entrance with his mother following, “we’re here.” neytiri gives you a soft smile as they tower over you from the end of your bed.

norm peeks inside, his eyebrows furrowing. the sully family packed themselves so tight in here to visit you, “alright people. let her rest.” norm lectures, ushering them out one by one.

“if he thinks i’m leaving you, he is very wrong.” neteyam whispers in your ear, making you grin.

“c’mon, neteyam.” jake says from the doorway, motioning with his hand for his son to follow. he sighs loudly as he presses a kiss to your temple and standing up. he can’t say no to his father, as much as he wish he could.

“coming.” he grumbles as neteyam looks back at you to smile briefly before following his dad.

your eyes roll back to stare at the ceiling, tracing every tight weave of the fabric that makes up the marui. norm checks a few things by your beside, marking down your current vitals and hooking up another bag of iv fluids.

“you’ll be better in no time.” norm smiles down at you.

the next few weeks go by terribly slow, you’re bed-ridden for most of the time; until norm or max decide it’s time for you to get up and stretch your legs.

even the slightest movement is strenous. as if you just ran around awa’atlu and back, your stamina is just not the same as it was. you can barely make it past the marui outside before you have to turn back to lay down.

today is the day that your stitches are being taken out, finally giving you free access to examine your wound. you crane your head down, bringing your chin to your chest to stare at it. it’s merely a discolored scar, no longer a hole, that is perfectly sealed. almost as if nothing has happened.

you take a deep breath, looking up at norm and max with a smile, “thanks for everything. seriously.”

they both nod and smile at you, “of course. anything for you. we couldn’t let anything happen to you, we promised your mom and you that.” max replies.

the mention of your mother makes your heart tighten in your chest, but you push the thought to the back of your mind. “now, you have to follow our instructions. no exercise, no crazy swimming, you can get in the water but nothing more than slow wading and/or floating.” norm points out.

“oh, and when we say exercise, we mean nothing that will make your heart and respiration rate go up too much.” max adds, eyeing you suspiciously.

your eyes look over them, a bit confused on what they are insinuating. finally it clicks, they mean sex. heat rises from your chest and settles onto your cheeks, slightly wiggling in your seat uncomfortably.

“oh my god. shut up. i’m not doing any of whatever you’re saying.” you shamefully put your head in your left hand, still being wary on using your right one yet.

“okay good.” norm nods with an awkward laugh, “alright, well the worlds waitin’ for you! go out and get it.” he motions to the door.

“yeah, yeah.” you murmur and stand up from your sitting position on the bed.

just as your mind ponders on where neteyam could be, his face peeks around the corner. a big smile forms on his face when he sees you standing up.

you wave at norm and max before walking outside into the sunshine, “ah there’s my girl.” his large hands consume your waist as he leans down to press a soft kiss to your lips. you savor the feeling of properly being able to kiss him.

he pulls back from you, his eyes glance down over your face with heavy eyelids. “i can’t believe you’re standing up right now.” his fingertips softly press into your fleshy waist out of excitement.

the touch is so subtle but it sends a visceral jolt down your spine. all you can do is smile at him and lean into his chest for a hug. the boy wraps his arms gently around your shoulders, pulling you in closer.

“i love you.” you mumble against his warm skin. being the first time you’ve said it to him since you were hurt.

neteyam squeezes your frame under his muscular arms and kisses the top of your head. “i love you.” his voice rumbles deep in his chest; the sound comforts you.

“i have something to show you.” he hums as he pulls away, “a little welcome back gift.”

your eyebrows raise in curiosity, “oh really? what is it?” you attempt to pry, but by the looks of how his face scrunches up he isn’t going to budge on his secret.

“lets go. i must show you.” he unravels his arms from around you to grab one of your hands. he’s gentle as he leads you towards the beach.

the warm sands sinks in between your toes, making you gasp in awe from the feeling. oh how you’ve missed this. the heat of the sun beats down on your head, enveloping your body in a euphoric state.

the shells sitting at the shore rustle under the soft waves, creating natural music as they roll around.

neteyam continues to lead you down to the water. you let out a happy cackle as the sea foam tickles your toes, “this is amazing.”

he stares at you in awe from how excited you are to be with the sea again. the rays of the sun catch your features perfectly, making him want to melt into the sand. you’re ethereal to him.

the clicking noise he makes takes your attention away from the water. you carefully watch the sea, taking notice to something stirring beneath the surface. you almost jump back in surprise when an ilu bursts from the water and squaks loudly at you both.

“you could’ve given us a little bit of a warning, buddy!” neteyam laughs loudly as he steps farther into the water, now knee high.

oh, how careful he is with you. his hand tightly grips yours as he approaches his bonded animal, “you ready?” he glances back at you.

you give him a nod of approval, letting him pull you forward in the water. his hands grip your waist gently to lift you up to place you on the back of the saddle.

has he been working out since you’ve been out of commission? the way he picks you up like you weigh nothing makes your belly burst with butterflies. it’s so attractive.

he’s next to climb up, easily situating himself in front of you as he brings his kuru forward to make tsaheylu. your arms instinctively slither around his slender body, pressing yourself into his back.

“hold on to me. i’m still gonna go slow, okay?” he says to you, slightly turning his head to the side to look behind him.

“let’s go! let’s go!” you bounce excitedly as you look up at him. he chuckles in response as the ilu takes off, slower than its usual pace.

instead of diving beneath the water, neteyam keeps both of you above the surface. the water splashes up on your legs, barely misting you in the face.

you admire the village from this angle, feeling as if you’ve taken it all for granted before the accident. it’s always been beautiful to you, but now you take the time to look at every little detail; treasuring life.

the trip isn’t long, but it’s very secluded from the rest of the village. he follows a saltwater canal that runs between the large mangrove trees. soon the sun is taken away from you by their large branches and leaves.

the darkness reveals the bioluminescence during the day, your eyes ogle over the side of the ilu. you’ve never seen anything like this before, not even in the forest.

“neteyam. where are you taking me?” your voice is quiet, afraid any harsh or loud tone would disturb the peacefulness of it all.

“tsireya showed lo’ak, kiri, and i this sort of cove,” your eyes continue to dart around the new environment, “it sits hidden somewhere amongst these trees.“ he mumbles as he searches for any familiar landmark.

the canal splits off into two, his gut feeling is to take the right one. the water glows blue from the motion of the animal, indicating he has taken the correct path.

the sound of running water grows louder as he continues forward, but the ilu slows down to a stop. “we have to swim the rest of the way. it is too shallow for him to swim.”

neteyam climbs off the animal, standing up since his feet can touch the ground. he’s about chest high in the water as he reaches up for you, “here goes nothing.” you mumble to yourself, letting his hands carefully grab you to hoist you down to his level.

the boy helps you float onto his back, “hold onto my neck. you can’t stand here and i don’t want you to swim too much.”

you smile at his kindness, how he continues to worry about you. your legs wrap around his torso under the water, your arms drape around his neck loosely. you slightly cringe from the tightness in your right arm, huffing slightly from the pain.

“you good?” he asks as he continues forward down the creek, “yep. all good.” you mumble quietly.

your eyes can’t help but dance around. this place is magical, like something you would read from a human storybook.

the soft flow of water that ripples from his movement sends serotonin chemicals to your brain. the sound of a waterfall grows louder by the second, but you see nothing in front of you.

“here we are.” he stops for a moment, before pushing back the dense sea vines that hang from a thick branch.

behind the leaves are brightly colored seawater pools that cascade down into a bigger one. each one is a slightly brighter blue, almost neon from the bioluminescent glow.

you gasp in shock from the overwhelming amount of color as neteyam walks forward. he steps out of the water onto a bank, letting you down off of his back. “beautiful, right?” he’s almost breathless from the view, and he’s seen it once before.

you take a hesitant step forward, watching how your foot sinks into the glowing sand. “this is absolutely breathtaking, neteyam.”

you’re speechless, unable to wrack any other words out except that it’s breathtaking. you dip a toe into the water, almost leaping into it out of happiness from how warm it is.

“these are sacred pools to the metkayina. they are connected to eywa.” he informs you as he sinks forward into the water that sparkles brightly under the motion.

you follow him into the cove, eyes taking in the foliage and rocks that surrounds the pools. “you can be within the great mother here. to connect to her, to pray, to give birth, to marry, and to mate.” the last word is almost whispered out amongst the steam that sits above the surface.

your body becomes hot, whether it’s from the temperature of the water or his words. once neteyam is waist deep in the main pool, he turns around as he grabs his braid off of his back.

almost as if it sensed his presence, a bright pink leave-like tendril unravels from the rocky side of the pool. you watch as he connects his queue to it, bright pink and glowing along with the rest of the world around you.

neteyams eyes flutter shut and his shoulders drop down slightly, his breathing evens out as he relaxes. your eyes dance across his abdomen, following the perfectly etched muscles in his blue skin.

you follow the stripes that litter his body, and the freckles that sparkle in the darkness. your eyes catch the beaded neck piece he always seems to wear, smiling as you step forward.

one of his eyes peek open to watch you shuffle closer, outstretching his hand for you to take. you reach behind your back with your good arm to grip your thick braid, bringing it around to connect it to the plant.

your breath hitches in your chest from the feeling of uniting with eywa. your grip on his hand tightens as the feeling grows stronger, washing over your nervous system with harmonious tranquility.

your breathing evens out, and the ache of pain subsides in your chest. you feel as if you’re floating, or have drank a little too much of the nectar you sneak during celebrations.

you lean into his chest, your skin bursts with tingles all over your body once you touch him. the boy almost groans in pleasure, but holds it back for his own dignity.

you revel in the feeling of your hand gliding up his lengthy arm, feeling every little fuzzy hair. neteyam stares down at you, watching your movements with heavy eyelids.

“i want to be one with you.” he blurts out, making your doe-like eyes shift from his body to his face.

“with me?” your voice is slightly shaky, whether it’s from the effects of the plant or nervousness.

he unlatches his braid from the plant, motioning with a nod of his head for you to do the same. you gulp as he holds his kuru in between your bodies, ready to officially bond with you.

the pink wisps float and reach towards the end of your braid in your hand, begging to connect with yours. you glance up at the boy in front of you, who waits patiently for you to connect them.

you take a deep breath before moving yours closer, watching how intimately the extensions of yourselves wind up and tangle together.

both you, and neteyam, suck in a sharp breath through your teeth in sync. the feeling of your nervous systems connecting creates a deep crater of heat in your lower belly.

neteyam can sense your arousal; he can feel you. how you’re pulsating between your thighs for him, and your nerve endings that make him feel the same way.

“oh, neteyam.” you mewl out, stepping forward to press your hand against his warm chest.

as soon as your head angles up to look at up, he swoops down to catch your lips with his own. sparkles explode, making both of you cry out in amazement.

teeth clack together as his hand presses into your lower back to pull you even closer to him. your hot body against his puts him in a euphoric state, begging you silently to let him touch you.

he leans forward, almost bending you backwards to deepen the heated kiss. your tongues become one as you both grow more desperate for each other, to feel more.

he whines as one of his hands slide up your side, his fingertips feel as if they’ve been replaced with feathers. his large hand hovers beneath your breast, slightly pulling back from kissing you, “can i touch you…” his voice is shallow, with the slight twinge of desperation.

“you can do anything you want. please.” your eyes flutter open to be met by his hungry gaze.

he presses forward, connecting your lips once again to continue where he left off. his hand grips your breast that fits perfectly in the palm of his hand, while his other hand busies itself by sliding over the swell of your ass.

his fingers are so long, they curl against your inner thigh. so close, yet so far from where you need him the most.

you both moan out when he finally touches you, his thumb swipes over your sensitive nipple, causing a whimper to tumble out of your lips.

“i love how you sound.” he heaves into the kiss, making another high-pitched mewl puff into his mouth from you.

the boy gently pulls away from the kiss, keeping your bottom lip between his teeth before releasing it. he watches how it bounces back into place, before swooping down to your neck.

he leaves kisses and tiny love bites under your jaw and shoulder, as his hand continues to tease you against your inner thigh.

he slightly brushes his fingertips against the cloth that separates his hand from your core, making you wail out in shock.

he pulls back from his attack on your neck, his eyes intently look over your face. “i want to make love with you… here. if you’ll have me.” his voice is almost nervous.

you can feel the anxiety biting at your chest, itching to make itself known but you push it away. you’re safe with him, and you know he will always be gentle with you.

“i want you, neteyam. all of you.” you nod in agreement, one of your arms lift to cup the back of his neck to pull him down to your level.

he smiles as you kiss him, grinning like a wild man. he pulls back slightly, nuzzling your noses together, “i love you so much.” he whispers into your shared breath as he continues to keep eye contact with you.

“i love you.” you reply before closing the space between your mouths.

neteyam quickly takes control, moving his hand away from your breast to cup both of his hands under your ass to lift you slightly out of the water.

he presses your back down against a rocky bank over to the side. it sits shallow in the pool, letting the warm water sit dormant against your upper thighs.

the sully boy slots himself in between your legs as he kisses down your chest, careful over your wound until he makes it to the waistband of your loincloth.

his big round golden eyes stare down at you, the look he gives you makes any sort of reservation disappear from your mind.

you nod fervently to give him the okay. his long fingers tentatively hook into the thin cloth to unravel it from your body.

once the cloth is discarded somewhere to the side, he leans down to kiss you. his lips work magic against yours as if he knows your body like the back of his hand.

his mouth strays away from yours, pressing wet kisses down your neck until he meets your shoulder.

“sevin nìtxan lu aynga nang.” his tempting voice growls into your ear. the feeling of his breath washing over your skin sends shockwaves throughout your nerves. “you are so pretty.”

his hand ghosts down your abdomen, tracing lines down your tender skin. at last, he finally touches you, making you cry out into humid air.

neteyam let’s out a gasp as he mouths at your neck. the same feeling transferred over to him through your connection.

a feeling that’s so foreign to you, but something that you never want to stop. you let your hands explore his body as the pleasure sparks between your legs. your fingers dance over his biceps, across his chest and up to his neck.

countless sounds tumble from your lips, your back arches off the damp rock as you moan out his name. neteyam chuckles deeply against your lips from the desperation in your voice, “almost, baby.” he hushes you as he dives into the kiss.

soon his hand pulls away, leaving your chest heaving and the close proximity of your climax withering away. “whhhyyy…” you whine, your thighs clench around his hips to pull him closer.

“not yet.” he hums. his forearm sits heavy next to your head, slightly leaning to the side to unclasp the loin cloth that sits around his hips. he throws it behind him somewhere, not caring if it lands in the water. it’s the last thing on his mind when he has you underneath him.

you can’t help but glance down between your bodies then back up to him with wide eyes. his eyes look over your face, seeing the apprehension in your eyes. “do you trust me?” he mumbles.

you intently watch how his wet lips move as he talks to you, almost in a trance. “yeah, of course i do.” you breathe out shakily.

he grins from your response, “i will always be careful with you, muntxa.”

the new nickname makes your heart soar- he referred to you as his mate. he notices your emotions growing higher, by the way your eyes go glossy. he can read you like a book.

his lips press into yours, passionate and desperate as he situates himself below.

this is much different from his hand, the pressure makes your fingernails dig deep into his shoulder blades. the gravelly sound he makes sends flutters up your spine, forcing your brain into overdrive to evoke more of those from his lips.

you’re the one making him feel this way. desire clouds your thoughts, your legs aid in pushing his hips down until he is flush against your body. he stills for a moment, breathing heavily into your mouth as if he’s holding himself back.

the next few movements of his hips make you cry out in ecstasy. he’s quick to pull more out of your chest, a flurry of his names and pleas for more.

his lips leave marks scattered across your neck, whispering praises into your ear as your body lurches underneath him. he doesn’t hold back with his own noises which forces you closer to the edge.

your body lets go, arms tightening around his neck to trap him close to your body as your thighs seize around his waist. you choke out a cry of his name, feeling his tail wrap around your ankles to lock you in.

his teeth sink into the meaty flesh of your shoulder, a true sign of becoming his mate. you wince from the slight pain, but it’s nothing you can’t handle.

his body stills and trembles on top of you, indicating his release. he pulls his mouth away from your neck, gasping for breath. his eyes examine the two red spots from his canines that pierced you.

one of his hands come up to swipe the beads of blood away from your skin before leaning up to look at you. his forehead leans against yours, noses slotting together. “my love, you are amazing.” he murmurs breathlessly and lays his entire body weight on top of you.

you cackle loudly from the pressure of his body on yours, “get off… can’t breathe.” you throw your head back as you jokingly let out a wheeze.

neteyam sharply lifts off of you, his eyes wide as he looks over you wildly. his quick movements give you whiplash, he sits back on his heels and stares at you worriedly. “are you okay? i’m sorry. i didn’t think you wouldn’t be able to breathe. i-.” his voice trails off when his hands rub over his face.

you sit up in your spot, your legs still loosely draped around his hips. your small hands reach up to wrap around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. “oh neteyam. i was just joking.” your voice is soft.

he flies forward, all arms as he wraps himself around you, his head presses into the crook of your neck. one of his large hands cradles the back of your head, “i’m so sorry. i didn’t mean to upset you.” you mumble out against his chest.

“it just- that noise. it reminded of me of everything that happened… when you were.. were hurt.” his voice croaks, obviously holding back his tears.

your heart aches for him, guilt sitting heavy in your chest. “i love you. i’m so sorry.” you sniffle, holding onto his waist so tight like as he would be ripped away from you at any moment.

“don’t be sorry. it’s not your fault.” he shudders, pulling back slightly. he kisses your forehead and sucks in a deep breath through his nose, “i love you.”

you take a deep breath before unraveling yourself from his body, “let’s go in the water.” you mumble, trying to change the subject. you’re still sensitive to the mention of your ‘accident’.

he smiles down at you, his thumb and forefinger pinches your chin to look into your eyes. he wiggles out of your grip to slide backwards into the cerulean water. his hand grabs your ankle to carefully tug you along with him, “come.” he laughs.

you use your arms to lift yourself up and hop beside him. he instantly pulls you into his chest, rocking side to side on heels. you relax in his embrace before he unravels one of his arms to pluck something out of the water.

your eyes open to see him holding up his loin cloth, it’s soaked and dribbling into the water. you can’t help but stifle a giggle into your fist, “so that’s where it went.”

neteyam rolls his eyes jokingly, a smile on his face as he takes a step back from you. he swoops down to peck a kiss to your lips before walking to the edge to climb out.

you watch his every move, how he expertly ties the wet cloth back around his hips and tail. it swishes happily behind him when he turns around and sees you watching him.

you suddenly feel a lot less clothed, crossing your arms over your chest insecurely. neteyam looks down at your breasts then back up to your face, “my love. you realize… we just?” he questions you with a cackle.

you huff out of annoyance, looking around for your clothes he discarded everywhere. “can you please find my clothes?” you whine.

“but i want to see you like that. you’re beautiful. i don’t like your clothes.” he teases you, placing his hands on his hips.

“you know, i can feel my shoulder thumping from you biting me.” you say matter-of-factly with a humorous tone.

“it was just the moment, but hey! now everyone will know not to mess with you because you’re mine.” he chuckles, his eyes glimpse at the very evident bite mark on your left shoulder.

what a possessive little bitch. everyone knows you’re his, but now it’s evidently marked on your body; they’ll know you’ve mated. it makes your belly do somersaults, aching to jump his bones again.

neteyam peeks around at the foliage, looking for your top and bottoms. he bends down in some plants, grabbing a piece of cloth and your beaded top a few steps away. “don’t worry, i got ‘em.” he holds them close to his chest, motioning for you to come to him.

you huff as you wade through the warm water, taking one of his hands as he helps you take a step onto the bank of rocks.

neteyam slides the beaded top over your head, situating it over your chest. he notices how you struggle to tie the cloth on your hips, so he slaps your fingers away and ties them himself. “don’t strain yourself please.” he mumbles, “you know i’d do anything for you. even the simplest things.”

your head falls to look at your shuffling feet, feeling slightly useless from your limited mobility. he rustles with something, the sound of beads clacking makes your head peek up.

neteyam pulls the beaded neckpiece off of his neck, lowering it to you. “no, no.” you put your hands up. you know how much it means to him, and he always wears it. “your mom made that for you. i can’t take that.”

“yes, yes you can.” he pushes it against your neck, but your hand slithers between the necklace and your skin.

“no, neteyam.” you shake your head, staring up at him with your furrowed eyebrows. your angry face makes humor bubble in his chest, he can’t take you seriously.

“yes, y/n.” he mocks you, “just accept it.” he shushes you as he continues to wrap the material around your neck.

the piece perfectly forms around your neck, sitting cold and heavy. this will definitely take some getting used to. he takes a step behind you to tie the leather pieces together, tightening it around your neck. loose enough to breathe and eat comfortably, but tight enough so it won’t move.

“i must gift my new mate something of mine. it must be this, because the only other thing i have on me is my tweng.” he laughs.

“i wouldn’t mind taking your tweng off.” you slyly reply with a smirk as your fingers touch and admire the woven beads.

neteyam laughs loudly at that and throws his head back. he leans down from behind you to kiss your shoulder, “don’t worry about that. you can take it off anytime.” his voice is low, almost like a purr in your ear.

from his very persuading words, you spin around to look at him. your fingers busy themselves to toy with the waistband of his loincloth, “can i right now?” you stare up at him through your eyelashes, craving him already.

neteyam stills from your sudden energy, his eyes drop down to your hands then glance up at your face. “right now?” he asks almost in disbelief.

“right now, please.” you beg, voice shaky as you desperately grab at his hips. he gives you a simple nod of his head, your hands instantly peel the wet fabric away from his body.

neteyam leans down to pick you up, his fingertips press deep into your flesh. he presses his lips against yours, a little rougher than earlier. that’s actually amazing.

your hands card through his braids, slightly tugging at the base of them when your back collides with the trunk of a tree. neteyam blindly unravels your bottoms, continuing to kiss you intensely.

neteyam finishes what he started earlier, but this time he doesn’t hold back. he makes sure every last drop of your hunger is satisfied, giving you all that he has left in him the second round; and maybe even a third one. you cannot keep your hands to yourself, he’s just so beautiful and you’ve missed him so much.

after catching your breath and getting redressed for the second time, you finally start to head back towards the village. you melt into the heat of his back, positioning your head in the divot of his spine.

his body is so comfortable, and the sound of the water is so relaxing- you can’t help but fall asleep. you’ve exerted yourself more than you have in weeks, maybe months.

neteyam slightly shifts, making you wake up. your eyes flutter open to be met with the white sand of the beaches of awa’atlu. “we’re here.” his voice is soft as you sit up and yawn.

neteyam hops into the sea before helping you down with him. you follow him through the waist deep water and up to the shore, walking forward and into the warm sand.

his hand possessively holds yours as he proudly leads you back the marui. you’re incredibly nervous to walk around with an obvious mating mark on your shoulder, and wearing neteyams neck piece.

the villagers that pass you by, stare at you in shock. whether it’s because you’re the girl that is known for almost dying, or because your scent is strongly masked by his.

some of them whisper, and peek at you both through their peripheral vision. neteyam looks back at you with wide eyes, smoothly wrapping his arm around your shoulders instead of holding your hand.

“i think they are jealous.” he hums.

“jealous?” you nuzzle into his ribs, “very jealous.” he replies, and tightens his grip around your shoulders when he sees the chiefs son with a few of his goonies, “hi, ao’nung.” you wiggle your fingers at him lazily.

the boy gawks, his eyes take in the numerous love bites you left on neteyam and the teeth mark on your shoulder. then his eyes travel to the neck piece just as you pass him, “look at them!” one of his friends whispers, making ao’nung elbow him.

you repress a giggle in your hand, which makes neteyam sputter and press his lips to the top of your head to calm himself.

from a distance, you take note that jake and lo’ak are standing outside of the marui. surprisingly, they’re fishing together.

as the two of you approach them, jakes gaze falters from the water to look at you. “you’re back! look at you!” he exclaims loudly, patting lo’aks shoulder while he starts to walk towards you and his eldest son.

“oh wow. they healed that up very nice.” he glances at the wound, before his eyes trail up to the beads sitting beautifully on your neck. he glances at neteyam, then back to you, then back to his son.

the man clears his throat and stands up straight with his hands on his hips. obviously trying his hardest to not stare at his sons empty neck replaced with tiny bruises the size of your lips.

lo’ak turns around from looking in the water, a grin on his face when he sees you. his eyes perceive the situation, and the tension hits him like tidal wave.

his face drops into a cocky grin when he looks at his brother, “nice.” the boy nods his head.

“lo’ak.” jake hisses a warning at his son, making him turn his attention back to the line in the water.

“look, i don’t care what you kids do, i was your age once,” the sentence makes neteyam cringe, and open his mouth to speak. jake puts his hand up to silence him, “but just make sure you’re safe, and please… for the love of god don’t let your mother see.”

“dad.” neteyam barks out a laugh, which earns him a glare, “don’t worry. we were before eywa, so mom should have no problem.”

you can feel your body getting warmer by the second from this very awkward conversation.

“do not tell me what?” neytiri peeks out of the entrance of the pod, her curious eyes observe the three of you.

you watch as her face drops when she notices the jewelry adorning your neck. she takes two large steps over to you, her hand carefully touches the necklace.

then her fingertips graze over the sensitive mark on your shoulder, “you gave her your fkxile.” she hisses out, a bit too aggressively for your liking. her eyes side eye her son, staring at him with silent fury.

she’s mad about the necklace. not even the fact that you’re walking around with an evident bite mark on your shoulder, from her son.

“mother, she is my yawne. i must gift her something of mine.” he explains himself to her, but all you heard was yawne.. he called you his beloved.

she steps back with an angry huff of breath, “ah!” she hisses and balls her fists by her side.

“you are too young,” she points at him, then turns to you, “and you are still healing!”

“what if a child comes out of this? you are not bonded!” she continues ranting.

neteyam steps forward slightly in front of you, “mom, don’t worry about that. we did make tsaheylu.” he puts his hands up in front of him, as if he was trying to calm her.

her gaze shoots over to him, softening from his words. “you did?” she looks at you, smiling softly; almost proud of you and her son.

jake steps forward from behind his wife, his face obviously worried from her changing emotions. your eyes glance over at lo’ak who is staring wide eyed and open mouthed.

when he sees you look at him, he turns his eyes back towards the water.

this is so awkward. being bombarded by his parents to talk about your sex life is another level of embarrassing. you smile awkwardly and nod, “alright, kids. go inside.” jake motions for you two to continue walking.

neteyam exhales in relief, “thank you.” and grabs your hand to tug you inside quickly. “they are so fucking embarrassing.” he hisses once he is far enough away.

the two of you stare at each for a moment, before bursting into a fit of giggles. the kind of laugh that makes your sides hurt, one that’s so contagious that neither of you can stop.

you’re forced to lean into his body for some sort of support, but he stumbles back from your weight. this just causes you to laugh even harder when he falls back into the wall.

your hands fall to knees, trying to take a deep breath. you feel the tears leak onto the apples of your cheeks, but there’s nothing you can do to stop.

unbeknownst to you, jake and neytiri are staring at you two from the doorway with a smile on their faces. jake has his arm slung over his wife’s shoulder, “they really do care for each other.” he comments.

“they are in love.” she breathes out softly, watching you and neteyam with adoration sparkling in her eyes; happy that her son has finally found his mate.

“let’s leave ‘em alone. we can go take a ride on my tsurak?” jake suggests, looking down at her. she nods with a smile, letting him lead her away from the doorway.

you’ve finally calmed down enough to take a full breath, a giggle still escaping here and there. you and neteyam wound up on the floor in your heap of laughter.

his hand is intertwined with yours as you sit in front of him on your heels. you wipe your tears away with your other hand.

“i…” you giggle, shaking your head, “love you… so much.” you hurl over, grabbing your stomach as another laugh quakes through your body.

neteyam leans forward, one of his hands smooth down the back of your hair. his lips peck against the top of your head, making you lift it to look him in the eyes.

“i see you, and i love you.” he mumbles, glancing down to your lips.

when he leans forward to finally kiss you, it feels like the first time. love drunk from kissing him, you ache for more…

this boy, the one you’ve yearned for since you were a teenager; who stole your sight away from any other na’vi boy, never being able to compare to anyone else. now you’re his lifelong mate, something you never would have predicted to happen. you’ll grow old together, have your own children… it’s written amongst the stars, the sea, and in the trees.

you never knew your heart could be this full- to love and care for someone so much; so deeply in your soul.

there’s nobody else you’d rather be with except for him. knowing deep down he is the one for you, and you are the one for him; for the rest of your lives.

—

tags: @k----a27s @aspenreadsfanfic @aliseaaah @bellwhether @xoxobabe @koalalafications @embersfae @mae-is-crazy @softhetixx @minkyungseokie @iwanttohitmyself @neqeyam @lovedbychoi @lala-1516 @jbxws @ancientbeing10 @angrycoffeebean @taleiak @nyenye @vivangothic @theunfortunateplace @jakesully-sbabygirl @urdeadpoet

i hope u guys liked the ending. it’s honestly bittersweet 🥲 if u read this ur a real one & request or ramble abt something in my inbox bc i’m gonna be bored as hell now

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