Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I added something at the end of last chapter which was going to be in this one. It just fit better in the past chapter so if you haven't seen it, you might wanna check it out! Also, I know that this story was originally rated T but I'm gonna change it to M because there is going to be a kind of explicit sex scene in this chapter. I don't feel like I'm very good at writing them, but I wanted to put it in so what the hell. If you're not about that, just skip it. Thank you for still reading this! This story is almost at 10,000 views, which I can't believe. Thank you so much!
We set sail for the Southern Water Tribe the following day. Kita, Kateri, Naheel, Etka and I all boarded a large ship with provisions long enough to last us a month at sea, and set sail. Naheel had experience navigating, and Etka had been in the Navy for many years, and they were largely responsible for keeping the ship on its course. I was both excited and nervous at the same time, but I allowed myself to feel completely safe, even though there were bounties on our heads a mile high. I was in the company of some of the strongest warriors I knew, and we had escaped the Fire Nation and the clutches of my Father. We had done it. They couldn't catch us now.
I was going home.
As the days out at sea ticked by, I spent almost all of my time with Kita. I told her about my Water Tribe family while Naheel tried to navigate the ship under the map of stars while the rest of us huddled around blankets during a particularly cold night. I told her about discovering my true identity as we prepared lunch together in the tiny kitchen and I made a tiny fire with my fingers to cook the vegetables. Kita was eager to listen, and she wanted to know everything about my life apart from her.
On a simmering hot day, everyone was lounging out on the deck, and Naheel was bending water up from the sea to cool us off with. He kept splashing Kateri when she let her guard down, resulting in her startled cries of protest and mock threats of electrocution. Ever since her outburst in the Earth Kingdom compound, Kateri had changed. She had been suppressing her feelings for so long that it had taken its toll on her. Now, she was beginning to let go of her grief, and beginning to smile again, to laugh with my brother. It was nice to see.
"You better not splash me," Etka told Naheel, grinning and making his way up the mast to adjust a sail. I was watching him nervously as he climbed higher and higher up the pole. The sun was so strong that he had reluctantly taken off his tunic, and I was surprised that he would go that far. The scars on his back were still clearly visible, and I wondered how much pain he was still in.
Still, it was a pleasant surprise to see him like this. I had expected him to want to hide the evidence of his pain, but here he was, doing his job with his scars out in the open. His confidence was emerging once more, and I liked this.
I was sitting with Kita on the deck, enjoying a snack and the hot sun on my skin. Kateri was by my brother, and they were speaking in low voices, casting secretive glances at the rest of us and hiding back smiles behind hands. "You better not be plotting something," I chided, tipping my head back and staring at them from upside down.
"It's nice to see you all more laid back," Kita commented, and I lifted my head back up to face her. "I got the feeling it's been pretty tense for a while."
"Yeah," I replied, looking up at Etka, who was fiddling with the ropes up by the sail. I gave a nervous chuckle, tossing my head back down to my lap and making myself look at Kita again. I had that familiar light-headed feeling at seeing Etka shirtless and soaking wet. "He's making me nervous up there."
She gave me a knowing smile, her eyes flicking up towards him and then back at me. "How long have you known Etka?" She asked.
"For almost a year now," I said, although it seemed as though it had been longer. With everything Etka and I had gone through, it felt as though I had known him for a lifetime. "When I met him, he was a Captain in the Fire Nation Navy, and he taught me how to fire bend. I knew nobody in the Fire Nation when I arrived, and he took me in. I lived with him, and...and, ah..." I froze, suddenly realizing that I had no idea how to explain my relationship with Etka to my mother. I wasn't even sure if Naheel knew the extent of it. How was I supposed to explain to her that I had been sleeping with a man whom I wasn't married too? In the water tribe, that was a big taboo, and I had no idea how my mother would react if I told her.
"I can tell that he deeply cares about you," My mother said with a quiet smile. "I can see the way the you look at each other. I knew what that was like...a long time ago."
Suddenly, my mind flashed to Ozai, and every dream, every imagination I'd had of him and my mother flashed before my eyes. And how strikingly similar were our stories? A girl from humble beginnings falling for the dashing, handsome man of power and wealth. But Ozai had done nothing to protect my mother, and had allowed her to be exiled from the Fire Nation. Etka wasn't like Ozai...Etka was nothing like him.
"What was he like?" I asked tentatively, wondering if I was overstepping my bounds. "My - my father, Ozai."
Kita chuckled, rolling her eyes. "I was young and naïve," She said dismissively. "He was regrettably handsome and I fell for him. When Ozai realized that I had feelings for him, we began to see each other in secret. I loved him...at least, I thought I did. It all happened so fast, Anahi, you have to understand that. I was aware of his engagement at the time, but sleeping with him...it felt so right. I thought - mistakenly - that he would stay with me if I did. Obviously, that didn't happen, and when I found out I was pregnant with you, he did nothing to protect me. I realized then that it was never love, it was about power. Ozai could have any girl he wanted, and he wanted me."
"I'm sorry," I said quietly, watching Etka climb down the mast. What my mother had said had upset me, and this new revelation about my father had resonated with my relationship with Etka. Why had I slept with Etka? Was it because we both genuinely loved each other, or was it because it was easy for him, because I was impressionable and had been caught up in the moment?
Etka reached the bottom and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Hey Etka, you hot?" Kateri called out.
"Yeah, actually, I - " He lifted his head up was promptly struck in the chest by a blast of water from Naheel. I snorted in laughter, and Etka looked up, biting back a retort under a smile.
"I'll get you back," He teased, trying not to laugh. "Both of you." He slicked his hair back, soaking wet and tried to brush off the water from his chest with his hands.
"Etka is nothing like your father," Kita said, her laughing expression falling more serious. "I can tell that I've upset you by what I've just said. Remember that. I know what he went through while Ozai had him imprisoned and awaiting his execution, and it takes strength and an awful lot of love to endure that." My mother grasped my hand tightly and looked me hard in the eyes.
"Don't doubt him because of what I said about Ozai," She said firmly. "Ozai betrayed my trust, and Etka was willing to die before he betrayed you."
I bowed my head, squeezing her hand back. "I know," I said quietly, now feeling ashamed that I had even made the comparison between the two. Etka looked over at the two of us, and I got up, smiling, and went over to him.
"Come on," I told him with a smile, drawing close and casting a mischievous look at Naheel and Kateri. "Let's get them back."
Our voyage continued on for days, and as the weather continued to grow cooler, and the days shorter, I realized that we were drawing closer and closer to the Southern Water Tribe. We hadn't packed much of the warm furs and parkas we would need for the cooler weather, and I knew that I would have to rely on my parents to supply them.
I began to increasingly worry about my reception home. I had no doubt about Naheel - he certainly hadn't run away from home with little more than a note left behind - but who knew what sort of graces I would fall back into with my parents?
I was sitting on the bow of the ship with Etka, starting the first watch together as the sun dipped into the sky. I was wearing one of his cloaks wrapped around my shoulders and sat in his lap. The incredible glory of the stars lay mapped out above us, and Etka was explaining the constellations to me, showing me how to navigate the seas by means of the stars. Most of what he was saying went far over my head, but I loved listening to him talk about what he was passionate about, smiling as he pointed out paths of stars.
"When I was younger, my parents would sometimes take me with them on expeditions," Etka explained, his voice in a low whisper. "I would sit with my father on the deck of the ship, like this, and he'd tell me about the stars and the moon." Etka paused, and was quiet for a long time. I didn't dare speak. "I think they would have liked you a lot, Anahi," He said quietly. "Sometimes, I wonder if they're proud of me for doing the right thing, or if they think that I've dishonored them and shamed the whole family."
"I know how you feel." I had thought the same about my family. I had thought this for every day I since I had left home. "If it makes you feel better, I think that you did the right thing."
He laughed drily and rested his chin on the top of my head. "Thanks," He murmured, wrapping his arms around me and swaying gently from side to side.
"Hey Etka," I said softly. "When we were on the ship to the Earth Kingdom, do you remember when you asked us about the first thing we'd do when we got to safety?"
"Yes?"
"Before you could say what you would do, the ship was attacked," I said. "What were you going to say?"
Etka lifted his head from the top of mine and I turned in his arms to look up at him. He exhaled into a nervous smile and bit his lower lip. "I thought that we were all going to die then," He said coyly. "And now we aren't. I'll tell you when I'm ready."
B
"That's not fair!" I exclaimed, pouting.
"It is fair," Etka grinned, leaning back and lying down on the deck of the ship. I leaned on top of him, placing my arms by the sides of his head. I looked down at him, my hair falling down against his chest.
"Hmm," I smirked, leaning closer to him. "That's interesting."
"I guess so," Etka returned, and I kissed him. His hands slid up my thighs, and I pulled open his tunic, my kisses falling past his lips and down his neck. He lifted me closer to him and I flexed my thighs as I straddled him, holding onto him tighter.
"I love you," He murmured, his voice low. Kissing him still, I let go of him and began to disrobe, opening up my long dress and sliding it off of my shoulders. The night air was cooler than I expected, resulting in goose bumps and chills all along my exposed skin. I cast my robes aside, now completely naked, and Etka reached up, wrapping his arms around me and drawing me against him. He broke our kiss to bury his face in my neck, his teeth finding my skin. Breathing in sharply, a low moan escaped my lips, and my fingernails ran up Etka's back, leaving little red trails under the skin. He began to leave a wake of little purple marks along my neck, his face gently caressing my neck as he went.
He was fiddling with his pants underneath me, sliding them off while still lying down. Etka's face was flushed, and his steady breathing was hot on my neck, and when I shifted downwards, I felt him hard against my thigh. "Are you ready?" He asked me, his golden, half-lidded eyes watching me with heightened anticipation.
"Yes," I murmured. "Are you?"
"Please," Etka moaned, and I began to ride him, turning my hips against his. His kisses filled my lips, and I realized that I was no longer thinking, the heat between us guiding our movements. It had been so long...
Etka was audibly in pleasure, and I laid a hand on his shoulder, my whisper breathy and excited. "Someone's going to hear us."
"Let them," Etka replied, leaning up to kiss me. His grip on my hips suddenly tightened, and his rapid, shallow breathing increased, and he arched his back against the wooden deck.
"Oh spirits..." He moaned, clenching his eyes shut and digging his fingers into my skin as he came inside me. I stopped, sitting up on top of him and closing my eyes, relaxing off of his lap as he sank back down to the ground.
"Ohhh, Anahi," Etka sighed, and turned over to me. We lay side by side, and he pulled himself to his knees. A thin layer of sweat had glossed over his skin, and he seemed radiant in the moonlight. He slid his way over so that he was kneeling between my legs. I smiled triumphantly down at him, and Etka ran two hands down my thighs, letting his cheek rest just below my knee.
"You're perfect," He murmured with a lazy smile, still on his post-sex high.
"You're not so bad yourself," I teased back, and he moved his hands down the inside of my thighs, gently gliding his hands down the middle and spreading my legs.
"We'll see," Etka murmured, lowering himself on all fours before me and sliding his head between my legs. My body stiffened in excitement, and when I felt Etka's tongue inside me, I couldn't resist a small cry of pleasure.
His hands found my chest, his lips sucked and pulled, his tongue rolled, and his eyes never left mine, not once. My fingers dug into his hair, and I slowly allowed myself to let go, to let him pleasure me and bring me to climax. Struggling not to be heard by the rest asleep only just below deck, my cries of pleasure were restrained to small moans under closed lips.
"Etka... Etka..." I chanted his name in a breathy moan, my legs tensing and kicking out as I tried to shake this feeling out of my body. My fingers twisted around his hair, pulling hard as I reached my peak. It had to have hurt him, but Etka said nothing.
"Oh, fuck!" I cried out, my voice echoing across the deck as I climaxed, and Etka raised his head, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. My head rested back against the deck, and I stared at the stars as I slowly came back down to Earth. "Thank you," I breathed, my voice weak, and Etka drew up beside me, sliding his robes over his shoulders. I picked up my discarded robes and loosely wrapped them over my chest, then taking Etka's head in my arm and holding him close to my heart.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, his chest slowly rising as mine fell. I felt so content with him beside me. We were safe now. We would always be safe. I leaned back against the mast, sleep nearly winning the battle for me too. My fingers wove themselves through his hair as I looked out over the deck of the ship and then back down at him. He looked so peaceful when he slept, the worries he held and the strength he maintained melting away. His mouth hung slightly open, and his naked chest slowly rose and fell against mine.
I rubbed my eyes, the threat of sleep nearly taking me over, when I saw a faint white sliver in the distance. It must just be an iceberg, I thought, but as we drew nearer and nearer, I realized that it couldn't be. My heart kickstarted, and a massive grin spread across my face.
"Land!" I shouted, which startled Etka awake. He nearly shoved me off of him in his efforts to get up quickly, but I was so excited that I didn't care.
"What's going on?" He looked around, still under the daze of sleep.
"Etka!" I grabbed him by the hands and swung him around deck. "We've reached land!"
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