Tattoos and piercings

You balk when Tautoru leads you into a dingy shop advertising its body art. Inside, several heavily tattooed natives are practising their craft on native and tourist alike. It's actually surprisingly modern considering the island's remote location—but that doesn't mean you're ready to get decorated.

"Wait," you say. "What the hell? I'm not getting a tattoo."

"You need to fit in here," Tautoru says.

"Not like this! First my skin colour, and now a tattoo? That's not going to wear off when I go."

The smuggler smiles as he tightens his grip on your arm. "Who says you're going anywhere?"

"Wh-what do you mean? You aren't going to help us leave?"

"Why should I do that when you're so happy as you are?"

"Are you crazy? I'm not happy here!"

"Your cries of passion every night say otherwise." And he drags you over to an unoccupied chair.

There's little use in fighting: he's stronger than you, and none of the men in the shop seem interested in taking your side. You slump against the chair, defeated, as the tattoo artist goes to work on your arms. You grit your teeth at the pain and hope that the needles are sterile.

For today the artist only inks a very simple design just above each elbow. It's mild, actually, and looks good on you. Then Tautoru picks out rings for your nipples and a large silver stud for your navel. By the time you leave the shop a few hours later, you look every part the native wife now.

You follow Tautoru around on a few other, minor chores but remain stubbornly silent. Eventually you head back to his secluded cabin, but the mood has definitely changed. Even with your ardour aroused by your pregnancy, you aren't particularly interested in sex right now. You're still too shocked by his heavy-handedness in forcing you to get tattooed and pierced.

You don't know why you're surprised when you discover that Christina has met the same fate. Tautoru and Ikaroa must have decided that splitting you up would make things easier. Once the men leave, you embrace each other and cry.

Vaitea watches, confused. You try to explain how all you want to do is go home, how you feel like this has all been a mistake. You don't know whether it is her poor grasp of English or her blind devotion to her husband, but Vaitea has a hard time understanding why you don't want to be Tautoru's newest wife.