Yes, your eyes do not decieve you, it's a new chapter! Faster than last time, but slower than I'd hoped. But then, a lot of exciting things happened in between. Like getting to go up to the cabin (my kelna'ring) for the first time in almost two years, hanging out with my nephew who's now almost talking and (most exciting for all you folks) going down to Seattle last month to see the Avatar exhibit and meet (and interview!) Dr. Paul Frommer!

Yes, those of you who listen to Avatar Nation will perhaps have heard the podcast of the question and answer session from the Science Fiction Museum, and if you have heard it, that vehement "Yes!" after Dr. Frommer mentioned the need for JC to provide us with information on kinship systems? That would've been me *blush* I...have some strong opinions about some things, I'll freely admit it, and that's one of them.

Anyway, it was all very exciting, and I was most impressed by how personable and self-effacing Dr. Frommer is. Hopefully the boys will get the random interviews that we did over lunch out on the podcast at some point so you can all hear me interviewing (well, helping to interview) some really awesome Avatar fans as well as Dr. Frommer himself. Yes, I know, shameless self-promotion there.

But that's not why you're all here! You're here to read the long-awaited chapter!

Brotherhood Chapter 43: Pick a Little, Talk a Little

When the first warrior returned to the Ikran clan to spread the news of the end of the battle and the victory over the sawtute everyone had to smile. Amhul, their Olo'eyktan, had once again shown her usual wisdom - she had sent Kxani, whose greatest love was to talk about everything and anything to anyone who asked. There was endless rejoicing as he explained that all the evil sawtute had been captured and herded together like a group of mindsick talioang who had eaten too many fern fronds and had to be contained lest they destroy whole swathes of forest, and there was sadness too, of course, from those whose loved-ones he could confirm had been lost, but for one among the many it was a small bit of news that he tacked onto the end of his speech before the clan which triggered neither rejoicing nor sadness but intense worry.

"I am told," Kxani had said, "that while we battled the main force of the sawtute among the floating mountains, their home, which was left almost totally unguarded, was captured by the uniltìranyu, those strange creatures the sawtute created in order to try to trick the Na'vi into thinking they wished to understand us and to live in harmony with us. So even as the cowardly sawtute ran like defeated aynantang, with their tails between their legs, they had nothing to return to but captivity." He had grinned, and the crowd had cheered, but for one young woman a pang of worry shot through her heart and she knew she had to ask him if he knew more.

Once he finished his speech he had, of course, stayed where he was, revelling in the attention as people pressed forward to speak with him. She had been closer to the back of the crowd and thus it took her some amount of time to get to him, which only increased her anxiety. It was some space of time before she was able to speak with him.

"Ma Kxani, if I might ask," she said a little hesitantly when she had finally caught his attention,"do you know if all the ayuniltìranyu were injured in capturing the home of the sawtute?"

He frowned at her question. "Why should it matter?" he asked with a shrug, "they are, after all, not real People."

Na'ami bit off the angry reply that she knew was mostly a product of her worry and her long wait to talk to Kxani and took a deep breath. "Even if they are not precisely the same as us they are clearly on our side, and so are worthy of our concern," she scolded him. "Besides, is not Toruk Makto himself uniltìranyu?"

That was, of course, a question Kxani had no answer for. "Well," he said, "I did not hear anything about any of the ayuniltìranyu being injured, but I also did not ask. If you wish to know more you will have to ask someone else."

Of course, Na'ami knew that he was just trying to brush her off and point out how unlikely it was that she would learn much of anything about what had happened at the sawtute home, but she chose to take his statement at face value. "Perhaps I will have to do that, then," she nodded, "Thank you, ma Kxani, for helping me make up my mind about things that must be done."

He, of course, looked very confused as she turned her tail on him and walked off in the direction of the paddocks, but then, Kxani had never been one for subtleties. He was, after all, male and a warrior.

Uni'i, on the other hand, was neither male nor a warrior. She was, in fact, a healer and one of Na'ami's best friends, and she caught up with Na'ami just outside of the bulk of the crowd.

"You should not go alone," she said, using what Na'ami knew was her best "stern healer voice" as she moved to stand between Na'ami and the paddocks.

"I know the way, I will not get lost," Na'ami shook her head, "and you will not stop me from going, Uni'i. This is something I must do."

"I did not say you should not go, ma Na'ami," Uni'i smiled a very secretive kind of smile at her, "only that you should not go alone. And you should not go without packing a few things. You may, after all, be staying for some length of time. There really is no sense going all that way only to ask after one man."

Na'ami shook her head. "I will ask after all of them," she said, "it would not be right to ask only after one." She didn't try to deny that there was one, more than the others, that she was concerned about, but of course, Uni'i had guessed at least a part of her secret some seasons past and had not objected to such a treasonous thought at the time, so there was not, perhaps, as much risk in the admission as there could have been had anyone else suggested it. Na'ami smiled at her friend, "and did I understand you correctly that you would like to come with me?"

"I can do good there," Uni'i nodded, "there are, I am sure, more injured than the healers of any one clan can handle on their own, and in times such as these, we healers welcome every additional hand with great appreciation."

"...and perhaps among a gathering so large, you might find a man who catches your eye," Na'ami added with a laugh, "I would be glad to have you along. After all, it will be a journey of more than a day, and the company will keep me from boredom when we set down for the night."

"Alright, then I had better gather my things, and you had better gather yours," Uni'i nodded decisively, "and I will meet you back at the paddocks when the shadows reach the sea."

He hated tall people. Cliché though that admission was, it was an unfortunate fact that had been a part of Parker Selfridge since he had ended his growth spurt at sixteen and still hadn't broken five-foot-eight. He was beginning to find, though, that there was something he hated even more than tall people, and that was massively tall blue people. Especially when the massively tall blue person in question was someone he used to be able to look down on - literally - who was now more than double his height. Sully insisted on negotiating in his avatar, and not only was it visually and physically imposing with that mohawk and all the skinny but really obvious muscles, it was giving Parker the world's worst crick in his neck. Especially since the big blue bastard WOULDN'T SIT THE FUCK DOWN!

Parker was doing his best to contain his temper, though, since he knew it wouldn't be doing him any favours. He had a plan to get out of this with his life intact, and possibly even his job if he pulled this off right, and he wasn't about to jeopardize that. Not for anything.

"Look, Sully," he said, "I know you know what things are like back on Earth. We can't just cut off the supply of Unobtanium without something to fall back on. The economy's fragile enough already, if you cut us off cold turkey it'll collapse completely! Have you got any idea what kind of chaos that will cause?"

"And I should care about that why, exactly?" the big blue bastard raised an eyebrow, "I'm never going back there, even if I wasn't branded a traitor to the human race, which I know is how the company is going to spin things. Everything I need or want is here, Selfridge, and I don't owe Earth anything."

"I think you're forgetting, Sully, that without the RDA, and without Earth, you wouldn't even be here in the first place," Parker pointed out, then he shook his head, "but I think we're getting away from the point. You have to allow us to continue mining. You know as well as I do that the RDA isn't going to just give up everything we've built here just because you came along and got the natives to work together for a little while. They'll keep coming, and you're either going to have to work with them or you'll get blown off the face of the moon sooner or later. I've got your best interests in mind here as well as my own."

"A pretty speech, Selfridge, but I think you're forgetting something," Sully smiled coldly, "you really aren't in a position to be insisting on any rights just at the moment. You're the defeated government, I'm the victor, and beyond keeping you and your people alive I don't owe you anything." He shook his head, "I'm not an idiot though, no matter what you or anyone else might think; I know perfectly well that the ISV's aren't going to just stop coming, and even if I don't owe Earth anything, as I said, I'm hardly the kind of heartless monster who would just let the whole economy collapse like that. I believe there is a way to keep both of us happy, and I'm willing to negotiate terms, but one of those terms is that there will be no human presence on the surface of Pandora, apart from those vetted by the Na'vi."

"You're suggesting remote mining operations?" Parker frowned, "it's a very expensive way to work things, but maybe, at least as a stopgap measure, it could be an option."

"Actually, what I'm suggesting is that instead of focusing on the planet - a place where you've already done quite a bit of damage and pissed of the locals to an extreme extent - you look at all those lovely asteroids floating around up there in orbit with us. I've seen the reports, Selfridge - those ones you and the company tried to keep very quiet - there's more than enough unobtanium in those asteroids to keep the Earth's supply steady for decades. That's more than enough time to sort things out one way or another."

"Asteroid mining is expensive..." Parker hedged, trying to make it seem as if he was very reluctant about the suggestion. In fact, this was a great victory as far as he was concerned. It would give the RDA a continued reason to be in orbit around Pandora, and after all, who knew what might happen in a few years' time.

"I've also seen some of the company's profit margin reports," Sully said, "I have a very skilled hacker or three on my personal payroll, as it were. I know how much the RDA has been bilking the entire Earth on the cost of unobtanium due to its monopoly. You can afford the extra costs."

"I suppose..." Parker nodded, "I'll have to explain the situation to my superiors when I return to Earth, of course, but provisionally it's a scenario that we could work with. For now, anyway."

"For now," Sully agreed. "Now, as far as getting your people off this rock and home, we'd better figure out how to do it safely and quickly."

"Right," Parker agreed. Not that he really cared. Well, alright, he sortof cared, they were human, after all, and he wasn't a monster, but the most important thing had been handled, and quite skilfully if he did say so himself.

"Still no word?" Mo'at asked as she saw her old friend's expression of worry only deepen as he spoke quietly to the scout who was bringing back the latest information from the battlefield search teams.

"Nothing," Ateyo shook his head, "No word and no sign. The last anyone remembers is seeing him heading toward the tawsìp, but in the middle of battle it seems he just disappeared."

"Surely such a thing is not possible in truth," Mo'at pointed out, "but the longer it takes to find him, my friend, the more we must be concerned for his wellbeing."

"I know I have asked before, but..." Ateyo glanced toward the massive spreading limbs of Vitrautral which draped over them.

"It is still too soon," Mo'at sighed, "With so many recently lost in the battle, there are simply more voices than I am able to tell apart, even to distinguish one so well known. I am sorry, ma 'eylan, you will just have to wait for confirmation of that kind, as will I."

"Thank you," Ateyo rubbed his fingers over the healing wounds which newly marred his features since the fall of Kelutral. "I know you do all that you must - all that you can and more for the clan - and although it pains me to bring this up, it is for the clan, more than for my son, that we must have concern right now. The searchers will find him, or they will not, but either way right now the clan needs a leader. I would step forward myself, but it is not my place. My time is past, although I will support those who lead with all of my being."

"You are a wise man, Ateyo," Mo'at smiled, "and I do not think the clan would suffer were you to take on the responsibilities you seem not to wish, but you are right, we do need someone to take over, at least until Tsu'tey is found. It is not that difficult a decision to make, though. I believe I will speak to my daughter about the right way to approach my son-in-law. He has, after all, already begun to take on many responsibilities of a leader. Whether he knows it or not he speaks with the words of one for whom the needs of the clan mean more than his own needs."

"He rides again to the home of the sawtute to continue with the arrangements which will see them sent back to the stars," Ateyo said thoughtfully, "perhaps it would be best if we were to speak to him before that time."

"Perhaps," Mo'at agreed, "but first I must speak to Neytiri. She will know better than I how he will react to the request, after all."

"I will be guided by you in this, ma Tsahìk," Ateyo nodded politely, "If you need me you will find me with my family. Laneya is much distressed by her brother's absence, and even if I have no happy words for her I do not want to leave her for too long."

Mo'at nodded gravely. "I pray to Eywa that all will be well," she said, "after all, your son is a very strong man, and he is stubborn as a palulukan who has caught scent of prey."

That made Ateyo smile. "He is that," he agreed.

Since both Tom and Jake were heading back to the (soon to be former) home of the sawtute in the morning, and she and Neytiri were going with them, Ninat had thought that she really ought to ask Ka'tsi whether there was anything she might wish from that place - anything which she had left there or that she could think of from there which she might need. It was only polite, after all, to offer such a service to her brother's mate, a woman whom she had long thought of as a sister.

There was only one trouble with this plan, however...she could not find her. Neither Ka'tsi nor Antsu were anywhere they might logically be. They were not around the kitchen fires, and they were not sitting with any of the other singers, and when Ninat went to ask her parents, neither one of them had seen the couple for hours either. Ninat knew it was foolish to panic, she knew that there was no longer a threat from the sawtute, that they had been thoroughly banished, but between taking care of Tom while he was recovering from his fight with the evil tawtute in the metal body, spending time the day before at Hell's Gate while Tom and Jake negotiated the terms of the sawtute's surrender, and everything else which had been going on, she could not bring to mind one instance where she had seen either Ka'tsi or Antsu since the day of the battle itself, when she had shown Mrrket to the healers with Peyral.

Given all that had happened in the last few days, she could, perhaps, be forgiven for being just a little bit frantic when she still couldn't find them after a concerted search effort, so when Tom came looking for her with dinner for the two of them she nearly made him drop the leaf plates he was carrying as she rushed into his arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, obviously doing his best to be soothing as he nuzzled the top of her head with his chin (his hands being occupied with plates).

"I can't find Antsu!" she explained, and even though she was doing her best to stay calm she knew there was an edge of panic in her voice. "or Ka'tsi either! I have not seen them since the day of the battle and I am worried for them."

"Ah..." Tom hesitated, "there is probably a very good reason for that. No, not probably, definitely."

"You...do you know where they are, ma Tom?" Ninat looked up at him, surprised, "Why did you not mention it before?"

"I didn't realize you were looking," Tom pointed out, "and I kindof got the impression they wanted their privacy..." The sanhì on his face were blazing, and strangely that was the thing that calmed her down the most.

"So they are safe?" Ninat backed up from the death-grip she'd had around his chest and smiled as she took a deep breath (which brought the scents of dinner to her, making her remember that he had food with him)

"They are," Tom nodded.

"Tell me," Ninat smiled at him as she took her plate and found a comfortable spot for them to eat their dinner, "you can talk and eat at the same time, can you not? Suddenly I find myself very hungry!"

Tom laughed and sank down next to her with his own plate. "Hunger is a good thing," he said, "it means you're not as worried as you were. And there isn't all that much to tell, really. I was looking around for them because I thought maybe Cathy might want something from Hell's Gate..."

Ninat laughed. "The exact same reason I was looking for them! But go on, ma yawne, I don't mean to interrupt your story."

Tom laughed as well. "Great minds think alike," he grinned at her, "In any case yes, I went looking for them, and when I had exhausted all the usual places, I thought I should walk the perimeter of the bowl to see if they might have wandered off somewhere or maybe catch scent of them in an area that was less muddled, and...well... Cathy has a very distinctive voice, you know, and we've been friends for years, so certainly long enough for me to recognise it, even if she was...expressing more pleasure with her present company than I had ever heard from her myself," he said delicately.

Ninat giggled. "And you did not run to check and make sure her cries were not cries of fear?" she teased her mate, enjoying the subtle discomfort in his expression.

"I...well, I almost did," he admitted, "but then she said some things that I knew she wouldn't have said if she was frightened, so I hurried away. After all, it was nearly dinnertime, and I wanted to get the best morsels for you." Tom's face was alight, but he managed to raise an eyebrow at her in an insinuating sort of way that she was becoming very familiar with even through his own embarrassment.

Ninat laughed, then leaned over to kiss his blazing cheek. "I am fortunate to have such a considerate mate," she said, "and perhaps we ought to take some food in the direction you heard those noises, just in case they get hungry later."

"Perhaps," Tom smiled at her, picking up a piece of yerik from her plate and holding it to her mouth, "but later. After we have eaten." the "and after other things" wasn't said aloud, but she could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes all too clearly.

"Later," she agreed, meeting his eyes as she opened her mouth and delicately took the piece of meat in her teeth before closing her lips around his fingers. Definitely later.

As she picked her way carefully across the ground where the battle must have occurred, Me'lina fought a sickness that seemed to crawl inside her chest and lodge deep in her belly. The smell of dead ash clung to the back of her throat and she could almost taste it as she breathed. And not only dead ash, there were other scents as well, rotting flesh and something that reminded her of a certain boggy place near her home which erupted now and then with strange vapours. Her pa'li had stepped into a hole with his left midfoot this morning, and while they had both been lucky enough that the limb wasn't permanently damaged, she had thought it best to walk him for the rest of the day, rather than riding him in such chancy terrain. Clearly the fires which had passed through here had burned underground in places, charring and consuming the roots of the trees and creating hidden sinkholes. She was close enough now to Vitrautral - perhaps only a day or so's travel away - that she saw no harm in slowing down enough to keep a stable footing, and great harm in pressing on at a full canter. Besides, within the area affected by battle, there was always the chance that she might come across those who had been injured or...worse, and she did not want to miss an opportunity to be of some small help in this nightmarish landscape.

Ashes clung to her bare feet where she trod through them, they swirled up with the wind of her passage and coated her legs to the knees, and she wished for nothing more than to be gone from this place, but she knew she couldn't leave, she couldn't simply turn around and return, the tsahìk had told her she had a duty, a destiny which required her to come to this place at this time, and something within her agreed with that assessment. And so she trudged onward, sipping sparingly from the water-vessel her pa'li still carried in a vain attempt to wash the taste of the ashes from her throat.

She walked on, half alert and half in a daze, almost all her attention centered on where she was placing her feet, not wanting to step into a sinkhole herself, or miss the sign of some injured warrior, but even though she thought she was paying attention, it was her pa'li's alarmed whinny which drew her eyes upward to meet those of the predator. In the path directly in front of her stood a large nantang, and his gaze was intent upon her. She took a half-step backward so that her shoulder brushed the withers of her pa'li, her hand reaching toward the knife she, like every Na'vi who might travel alone, carried at the small of her back as she glanced quickly around, looking for the rest of its pack, but then something entirely unexpected happened. The nantang did not advance, but instead bowed its head and half-crouched into what looked to be a non-threatening posture, extending its tswin toward her in what could only be an open gesture of friendship. She was unsure of how to react to this most strange of occurrences, but then, floating through the air, there came an atokirina', the sacred seed dancing down the length of the tswin offered to her and then over to brush against the hand she raised involuntarily toward it.

Well, if that was not a sign that even the most oblivious of children might read then she was tawtute. Gathering her courage she took one trembling step forward, and then another, until finally she was close enough, and then she knelt before the strange nantang and tilted her head to let her tswin slither over her shoulder. This close to the animal she could see that it was male, and that it - he - was clearly strong. He had battle scars long faded as well as newer ones, but the muscles which rippled beneath his skin were obviously vital and filled with power. As if in a dream she took the end of her tswin in her hand and lifted it until she had made contact. The shock of connection opened her eyes wide, and then he spoke.

«Come with small brother,» he said, «Large brother is making hotness and sick-smell, and small brother cannot lick better. Large brother need bluepeople healing.»

Me'lina was confused. Why would a nantang even think to come looking for one of the People to cure illness? And this one called himself "small"? He was huge for a nantang! Still, she could not ignore the message of the atokirina'. «Where is this "Large brother" you speak of?» she asked, «I have some skill with healing, perhaps I can help.»

«Come, and bring your honey-drinker. Even the honey-drinker should not be wandering hurt in this place,» the nantang said curtly, and Me'lina got the sense that he was used to being obeyed. Did aynantang have an Olo'eyktan as the Na'vi did? If so, then surely this was one such.

She got to her feet, clicking her tongue to her pa'li, which was wary but walked toward her, and as she stood the bond with the nantang slipped away, but she felt his body brush along hers almost gently as he turned and slipped back into the forest.

They walked for perhaps long enough to sing a teaching song twice, and then they came to an area less affected by the fire, where there were still some living plants, and a small upwelling of water had created a pool that seemed clean and clear. The nantang yipped and others appeared out of the cover or down from the trees, but none of them were in the least bit menacing. They all greeted him, and then he yipped again and they faded back away. Perhaps she had been right, perhaps this was the olo'eyktan of the nantang.

He offered his tswin again, and knowing now that it was safe, Me'lina once again linked to him.

«The honey-drinker must wait here,» he said, «he is far too large to come into the den where Large brother sleeps.»

Me'lina nodded and then went over to her pa'li, made tsaheylu and instructed him not to stray, and that the aynantang would not harm him, then lifted down the pack of healing materials she had brought with her and returned to her strange guide. He wuffed softly and shouldered aside a fall of ferns to reveal the entrance to a small cave. Once he was sure that she understood, he walked inside, and Me'lina followed, crawling behind him through the narrow entrance that opened up into a much larger interior space. In a way, it reminded her of the kiln back at home, although of course it was not nearly so hot. The ceiling domed overhead, and she found that although she could not stand, she could at least kneel. As her eyes adjusted to the low levels of light provided by lichens covering the walls she realized that she was not alone. There was another Na'vi inside the cave. This must be the "Large brother" the nantang had spoken of! But how could it be that a nantang would be brother to a Na'vi warrior? Would save him in battle? Clearly there was a story here that wanted to be told, but it would have to wait. After all, if the man was sick enough that the nantang had sought out help, then there was little time to waste.

She shuffled over next to him and reached out a hand, placing it on his forehead and wincing at the level of heat radiating off him. This was bad, but perhaps not totally a lost cause. She had fever-reducing herbs with her, and if his only trouble was an infection then that small help should be enough. She worried, though, how he had managed to get such an infection. He must be otherwise wounded, and there was no sense in treating the fever if the cause of it remained. She ran her hands carefully over his body, and when she came to the first of the small wounds she hissed. She did not know what could cause such small, precise holes. There were no arrow shafts remaining, but something did feel wrong.

«Can you fix?» The nantang asked. «There are small pieces of metal inside. I touched them with my tongue but I cannot bite them out, they lie too deep.»

Small bits of metal? Me'lina frowned deeply, trying to recall what she had been told of the sawtute. Mostly rumours, of course, but she remembered something she had heard about sling-stones of metal that could do much damage. Silently apologizing to the warrior she grit her teeth and felt inside the wound with the tip of her finger, and perhaps one joint inside she felt it, the small metal sling-stone that was causing all his trouble. It moved under her touch, though, which was a good sign. It was almost like the time that Txon had played with a piece of clay and not gotten all of the bubbles of air out of it before putting it upon the fire. Sa'nok had scolded him mightily as she cut the shards of half-baked clay out of his skin, and he had scarred, certainly, but he had lived. Perhaps she could do the same thing here.

«I think I can fix it,» she said, «but I will have to cut him to get the pieces of metal out. Just small cuts, but he may struggle.»

«He will not,» the nantang assured, «I will lie down upon him and tell him not to.» He then broke tsaheylu with her and moved so that his body pinned the man down across the abdomen and legs, then made tsaheylu with him.

Me'lina quickly mixed a paste that would keep the bleeding down, brought back to the days of her childhood training with her mother before the clay took her heart, and she cleansed her knife, closed her eyes, and made a small prayer to Eywa that she would not fail this brave warrior.

Then she began to cut.

At first he thought it was a very strange dream. He could hear mechanical noises and the bustle of people moving around somewhere nearby, and there was someone taking (although not to him). If anything, it kindof reminded him of when he'd been recovering from his bout of chickenpox as a child. The world had been fuzzy around the edges then, too.

The sounds of talking came closer (or maybe he could just hear better because he was kinda curious and was trying to hear better?) and Norm thought maybe at least one of the voices sounded familiar. There was a female voice and there was a male voice...or maybe it was actually two male voices. He couldn't quite tell, because they sounded very similar. Now and then they almost seemed to be talking on top of each other, but with how fuzzy he was, Norm really couldn't tell if that was actually happening or if it was just a trick of his brain. He tried to swivel his ears to get a better read on the voices, but for some reason (oh yeah, human body, not in the avatar...something about the avatar?) he couldn't get his ears to move. Weird. It had been ages since he'd dreamed about himself in his human body.

"His status is stable for now," the female voice said, "but that's from a purely physical standpoint."

"So if he's stable, why is he still asleep?" the male voice asked. It sounded, Norm realized, quite a lot like Jake. Or maybe Tom. It was hard to tell which one of his friends had decided to be in this dream; especially as he couldn't seem to make his eyes open.

"There was...something of an incident when he began to wake after the initial procedure," the woman explained in that clinical way that screamed she must be a doctor or medic of some kind. "We thought it better to put him into an induced coma for the time being, to reduce the stress on his body and especially the undue stress he was putting on his heart."

"What happened to him anyway?" Jake (Tom?) asked.

"He suffered a type 2 acute myocardial infarction secondary to serious damage to his avatar that caused him to panic and elevated his heart rate," the doctor (he'd dubbed her "Doctor" in his head after that last statement - total medspeak!) explained, "it appears that extended link time may have led to DVT, and when his adrenaline level spiked the clot was dislodged and ended up in his heart. He's pretty lucky, actually. It could just as easily hit his brain and he would've stroked out."

"Well shit," Jake and/or Tom swore (more likely Jake, although...hmm...Norm had certainly heard Tom swear before, and he supposed from what he could decipher of the medspeak that the news about what had happened to him in this weird dream hadn't been good) "I didn't totally follow all that, but that sounds bad. How could he have a heart attack? He's only twenty-five!"

"What's the long term prognosis?" Tom and/or Jake (this sounded much more like Tom...maybe they were both in the dream) asked.

"Ultimately we won't know for sure until we're able to get him up and healthy enough to run a mild stress test on him," the doctor said, "but judging from the scans he looks to have done damage to the right ventricle, which could very likely lead to some degree of heart failure. He is, as you pointed out, still young, but even so, with the level of damage he's done..." There was a long pause, and Norm had to strain to catch her next, very quiet statement. "It's very likely that his lifespan will be severely shortened, either due to pulmonary edema or to additional stress further damaging his weakened heart."

"How long?" Tom and/or Jake - or both, that sounded really echoey - asked, and frankly, Norm wanted to hear the answer as well.

"It's impossible to give absolutes," the doctor said, "but if he takes things easy and accepts his body's new limitations, and if he keeps his link times to very carefully regulated intervals I would estimate he could have another twenty years. If he doesn't take care of himself, however, it could be as little as five. Pandora is hardly easy on a body, even for a human who stays indoors at all times, and you avatar drivers have notoriously bad habits as far as neglecting your human bodies in favour of your constructed ones."

"And his avatar?" Jake/Tom asked.

"I've been told the damage is almost repaired," the doctor said, "but I don't recommend he use it for at least another week."

"What are you thinking, Tom?" Okay that had to be Jake, since, of course, he'd addressed Tom directly. Which meant Tom was in the room as well. Ha! Logic wins!

"I'm thinking we might want to talk with Mo'at about a few things," Tom replied, "but of course it'd be up to Norm, ultimately."

"Oh...right," Jake said, "I hadn't even thought of that. I'm...not sure if he'd want to, though, given...what happened."

"Well, we'll just have to talk him into making sure that he doesn't do anything stupid," Tom said firmly.

"I'm sorry but...what are you suggesting?" the doctor asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it Doc," Jake (had to be Jake) said, "it's not even an issue until we've sorted things out on the other end, and besides, you probably wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain it to you anyway."

There was a strange click of sound near Norm's ear, and he felt a rush of warmth pass over him as the voices began to move away again. He couldn't bring himself to try to get their attention, though. The dream was fading into fuzziness again, and it was just so comfortable...

He hurt. That was the first thing he became aware of as he swam up out of hazy dreams. It wasn't any kind of specific hurt either, although there were places that seemed to hurt more sharply than others, but generally his whole body just ached, and this inside of his mouth felt sticky and tasted, well...like things he didn't like to think of. It was a struggle to open his eyes, but he had never been one to give up easily - on anything - so after only a little time he had roused himself enough to open them a crack. At least enough to get a general idea where he was. Somewhere enclosed, although that didn't make much sense to him. He could definitely see earth over his head, though, and as he slowly turned his aching head he could just make out walls of more earth...and someone else. There was another person inside this whatever-it-was with him, a woman.

"Who...are you?" he asked, wincing at the rough sound of his own voice, as well as the pain in his throat from the effort of speaking. "Do I...know you?" She seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place her.

"I am Me'lina," the woman said, leaning over him and touching a place on his shoulder that flared with pain, "how are you feeling? Your fever seems to be coming down, which is a good sign."

"Me'lina..." he mulled over the name, rolled it around on his tongue like a piece of nectar-drenched fruit. It didn't sound familiar, but he thought it suited her. The way she touched what must be his wounds showed her to be both sweet and gentle. "Oel ngatì kameie, ma Me'lina, I'm..." he broke off. There was something wrong here. Why couldn't he make his name come from his mouth? He...it was almost on the tip of his tongue and yet he couldn't bring the proper syllables to mind!

"Hush," she pressed a soothing damp cloth over his forehead, "You are ill, don't worry, this confusion will fade as your fever goes down. You can introduce yourself to me properly then, fine warrior."

He shook his head. "I should know," he said, and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to think about names. His mother's name, his father's name...but he didn't know what they were. He couldn't even bring to mind their faces! The only name he knew was hers. This girl's...Me'lina. The name that tasted like sweetened fruit...and one other! There was another name! A name that meant warm days lounging in the limbs of the trees and falling into the water for the pure joy of it, a name that sounded like the life-giving water as it bubbled over the rocks of the river... If he could get Me'lina to bring the one whose name he remembered, perhaps then he could remember more.

He reached up to grasp her wrist in excitement. "Sylwanin!" he said, "Find Sylwanin! She'll help!"

"Just as soon as you're well," Me'lina said, "now drink, you must be very thirsty."

She wrapped her free arm around his shoulders and propped him up enough so that he could drink, and he gulped the first mouthful of water almost desperately.

"Slowly now," she chided, "slowly or it will do you no good."

He really wanted to just guzzle the whole of the water down right away, but something inside him agreed with her, knew that to drink so quickly would only make him sick, and he slowed, sipping tiny sips until the water was all gone. It tasted a little strange, but somehow familiar...he couldn't quite place the flavour, but at least it counteracted some of the horrible taste in his mouth.

"Siltsan, good warrior, that's the way," Me'lina said softly as she laid him back down.

He tried to protest, tried to stay sitting up...he wanted to talk, t ask her what was going on, but somehow he just didn't have the strength. As his eyes were closing, each one seeming as heavy as though an 'angtsik was sitting on it, he suddenly realized that there must have been something in the water, but by then it was too late. He was already asleep again, or unconscious, and dreams once again consumed him.

Mrrket watched carefully as the healers' medicines took effect and Peyral drifted once again into the deep sleep that he had learned, as he watched over her, meant that she would not wake for at least a quarter of the day. He did not want to be delinquent in the duty he had taken on of making sure that she rested until she was well on the way to recovery and past the chance of re-opening her wound, but there were things that were troubling him, and he did not want to trouble her by asking her directly about what would appear to be a somewhat delicate situation. It was not, perhaps, the height of politeness to go around behind her back and ask another about the situation either, and he knew his mother would have pinched his tail for being rude, but better that he be a bit rude and know the breadth and depth of the waters he was attempting to cross than he get swept away by the torrent of her emotions. She was...well, he liked Peyral, and not just because she was pretty, either. When she was calm (or in other words when she was tired and no longer had the energy to pretend to be strong) they talked of many things, and she had a clever mind to go along with her bravery and physical skill that made him deeply curious about her and made him want to continue to learn more about her. Even that curiosity, though, didn't bury his good sense enough that he had any intention of trying to find out what was going on by asking her directly!

Since what he wanted to know most was the explanation behind her reaction to Toruk Makto and he was hardly going to approach that great man directly (even if he did seem to be quite a casual sort of fellow, at least from what Mrrket had seen when the man visited with the injured, both Peyral and others) and it would hardly be appropriate for him to approach the man's mate either, he thought his best chance of an explanation would be to speak with the young woman who had led him to the healers in the first place. She and Peyral were clearly close friends, and as a singer she would be observant enough to give him the story that he needed, and discreet enough to keep things to herself. His only worry was that she would also be discreet enough that perhaps she wouldn't want to give him the story at all, given that this was her friend he was asking about. He was prepared for that eventuality, however, with a few bargaining points of his own, and that was yet another reason he wanted someone who would be discreet. A few of those bargaining points really didn't need to be getting back to Peyral just yet. If he was to hunt a hunter, after all, he needed every advantage he could possibly get.

But for now he wasn't hunting a hunter, he was hunting a singer, and he had a fairly good idea where she would be. The kunsìp which brought people back and forth between here and the home of the sawtute had gone overhead not long ago, and when it had landed he had seen her among those who had ridden within its belly. She had headed toward the area where the singers rested and worked, and so he headed there as well, putting a cheerful smile on his face. He had always liked singers, even though he had no skill in that direction himself.

"Oel ayngatì kameie," he gestured politely as he walked among the group of singers, "might I speak with Ninat?"

"I See you, ma Mrrket," Ninat rose to her feet, sending a small smile and a gesture to her mate that he needn't get up, "what is it you wish to talk to me about? Is Peyral well?"

"She is well," he nodded, "but some things she has said concern me. Of course, I do not know if my concern is needed, since perhaps she has simply spoken as she always speaks, so I thought perhaps as you are her close friend you might guide me more clearly. Might I speak to you alone?"

"Of course," she nodded, looking a little more serious, "I will be glad to help you decide whether such concern is needed." She leaned over and whispered something in the ear of her mate and he nodded and caught her hand, rubbing it over his cheek before he let her go. It was clear that the two of them were very new mates, but Mrrket suppressed the urge to chuckle at the man's reluctance to part with her. After all, it spoke well of him, even if he was one of the uniltìranyu.

Once they had found a quiet corner out of immediate earshot, they both sat down, and Ninat gave him a very direct look.

"Alright," she said, "your speech back there was very circular...what exactly is going on?"

Mrrket took a deep breath, prepared himself, and waded directly into the riptide. "I am worried about the way Peyral acts when Toruk Makto visits with her," he said, "she is always so happy to see him and yet, when he leaves or when he and his mate are there together there is deep sadness within her." He shook his head, "I know it is rude of me to ask, but I have seen sadness like that before, and when I caught her...when I saved her during the battle, she had no concern for her own life. No care that by going back into battle she would very likely die. I do not want to see her take such risks again once she is healed and perhaps succeed this time."

"And why does she concern you so?" Ninat pinned him with a knowing look, "is it merely duty to one the healers have placed in your care, or the duty of the saviour of a life to watch over that life for a season? I had not heard that such traditions were observed by your clan, I had thought those more common among the clans of the plains."

Pxasìk! She'd picked up on the very thing he'd wanted to keep as his highest bargaining point. Ah well, there was no sense in not using it, since he had every reason to want her on his side in this. He sighed. "She concerns me because she could be...because she is precious to me. I know it must seem as though I am being foolish, but I am fascinated by her and I want to know more about her, but more than that, I want her to be happy. I do not intend to try to force my attentions on her, I am not that foolish, but for now I have an excuse to watch over her, and if, when she is well, she sends me away then I will go. Reluctantly, but I will go, but if she is well only in body then I will not go with an easy heart."

"I think you would not go with an easy heart either way," Ninat shook her head, but then she smiled, and he knew he had gained the trust he needed, "I suspect, though, that you are a hunter equal to her skill. You certainly seem to be good at leading your prey toward your trap, as you have led me just now with your words. I will tell you what you wish to know, but you must promise me that it will go no further, and that you will not speak of it to Peyral directly. At least, not while the situation remains unresolved."

"I so promise," he nodded, "and my people are not just hunters, ma Ninat, we fish as well, and to catch a fish requires not only a good trap but the right bait as well."

That made her laugh. "I will remember that," she said, "Now, there was a story you wished to hear, I believe?"

It was not so complicated a story, really. He had certainly heard and even seen similar ones many times throughout his life; the two suitors both vying for the same mate, the misunderstandings (although in this case there was more than mere miscommunication) and the assumptions made. Truly, had he been in her place, with feelings for a man who had eyes for a woman already spoken for although not yet formally mated, he would likely have come to the same conclusion, that with time things should fall to his advantage. He felt a strange stirring of unreasoning pride that she had overcome any jealousy and retained her friendship with the couple after they mated (and yet, what right did he have to feel pride at this? He had played no part in it, after all. It had been entirely Peyral's own great heart that had led her clearly) but the part of the story which touched him most deeply - and the part he found most worrying - was the vow that Ninat told him Peyral had made, that she would dedicate her life to ensuring Toruk Makto - Jhake - remained safe.

"She insists that this is the path Eywa has laid before her," Ninat said finally, "that there is no mate for her, nor children in her future, but that her life is to be spent in the defence of the clan and more directly of Jake and Neytiri and any children they might have in the future." She gave him an arch look. "I guess from your expression you may wish to argue that point with her."

Mrrket flushed. "I...admire her dedication," he said carefully, "and I would not want to call such a calling a waste of her life, but..."

Ninat laughed. "I definitely suggest you don't use those words exactly if you speak to her about it," she said, "but your ears and tail speak clearly enough to me. In the end, it is Jake who must give her back the life she has dedicated to him, but before he does that there needs to be someone who can catch her when she falls. I suspect you might be able to do that," she said, "but this is a trap you will have to bait very, very carefully, for even if she is more than likely to want that bait, she will argue with herself over whether or not she should take it."

"I am a skilled hunter," Mrrket said firmly as he smiled, "and more than that, I am a very skilled angler. I will do my very best to make the bait irresistible to her in such a way that she does not even realize she is in danger until she is on my hook." He looked seriously at Ninat, "I will catch her as many times as she falls. This is my oath to you."

"Then I believe we have an agreement," Ninat nodded, getting to her feet. "Now I had better get back to my mate before he becomes worried and comes looking for me."

"Eywa ngahu," Mrrket waved as he stood as well, "We will speak again later."

"We will," she nodded, "Eywa ngahu, ma Mrrket, ulte etrìpa syayvi."

He watched her walk off as he mulled over all that she'd told him. He had a plan of sorts beginning to form in his head, and he was, as he'd told her, and expert angler, but all the same, he had the feeling he was going to need that luck she had just wished him.

As he headed back to his room from yet another meeting of the "new Hell's Gate administrators", Jakob Kater sighed. It was, ironically enough, turning into quite the exciting time to be alive. A shame he wouldn't be around to see how it all ended up, but then, if it hadn't been for his cancer, would he even have gotten involved in the first place? Sometimes he wondered about things like fate and whether there wasn't something to it after all.

He chuckled wryly to himself. Either fate or Murphy, or maybe both. Or maybe neither. Maybe it was just that human tendency to see patterns in everything even when there was nothing there but grey fuzz on a broken screen.

He swiped his key, paused as the door to his small suite hissed open on its smooth pneumatic tracks then stepped inside, already going through the tiny rituals to begin to clear his mind. Meditation was still the best, easiest way to control his chronic pain, but ever since a week or so ago, he had begun to wonder if his sanity wasn't slipping a bit. He kept hearing echoes of a voice, although the first time was the only time he had thought it was actually speaking to him. He'd read up on as much as he could find about hearing or seeing unexpected things during meditation, and he thought it might be some inner voice or wish fulfillment - it had made him feel very calm when it spoke to him, after all - so tonight he intended to see if he could actually "make contact" with it again.

He slipped off his shoes, downed a couple of pills with a glass of water and hung his jacket over the back of his chair and then he went to sit on his bed, settling into the most comfortable position that approximated cross-legged as he could manage. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing until his consciousness had sunk deep within himself, and then, in that drifting place of nothingness he sharpened his non-corporeal ears and listened.

It seemed like he could hear the babble of voices far away, somewhere outside himself, like voices heard through a closed window. Hmm...maybe that would work. Visualizing a window in front of him, his consciousness reached out and opened it up. "Can you hear me?" he wondered within the depths of his mind.

"How remarkable," the voice said, and this time he heard it clearly, "I had not thought my sister's children capable of speaking in this way. What is your name, child of Gaia?"

"Jakob Kater," he said, tamping down on his excitement as best he could. He didn't want to loose his trance state yet. Not now! "To whom am I speaking?"

The voice laughed, a merry, tinkling sound like raindrops shaken off the leaves of a tree. "To whom did you expect to speak in this way, Jakob Kater? I am the one the Na'vi call Eywa. Was there some other you thought you would reach instead?"

Eywa? His mind must be playing tricks on him! "But...how is that even possible?" He hadn't meant to "think" that "out loud" but she answered anyway.

"That is what I had hoped you would tell me. I suppose I will have to ask Grace if she knows. Be well, Jakob Kater. You are not my true child, but even my sister's children deserve my blessing if they can speak with me."

And then all of a sudden Kater was jolted out of his meditation. Whether it had been an involuntary reaction due to his own surprise or something else he was no longer quite sure. There was one thing he did know, though. He really needed to find one of the avatar drivers tomorrow before they went into link. If anyone knew how to figure out if that had been real, someone who worked closely with the natives was who he was going to need to talk to.

Jake sighed softly to himself as he wandered through the area he'd come to think of as the "field hospital". He'd visited with Peyral again, and she seemed to be doing better, but all that really meant was that her leg was healing well and she'd soon be able to try to put herself in danger again for his sake. He really wished she wouldn't do that, but at the same time, he remembered something Meilin had said to him once about people and relationships. There had been another guy in their squad, Mendez, who had developed an obvious crush on her, and even though she never encouraged him (and even if she had it never would have gone anywhere, since Meilin was the type who took frat regs very, very seriously) he still insisted on doing all kinds of crazy shit to try to get her attention. In all that, he had actually managed to put himself in the way of a bullet for her - it would have been stopped by her vest anyway, but that wasn't the point - and that was the thing that finally made her take steps. Strangely though (at least, strangely to Jake at the time until she'd explained things to him) the first thing she'd done was to find him an acceptable 'real" girlfriend. When he'd asked her about it later, she'd told him "You don't just abandon that kind of loyalty, even if your feelings and his are not the same. I don't love him, Jake, but I don't hate him either, and he's one of us. I'm not going to just push him out of the plane without a chute."

He'd always thought that was a bit of a simplification, but now he was beginning to truly understand what she'd meant. He just wished he had an appropriate sort of parachute to give Peyral...and that he knew whether she would even wear the thing.

Damn, now that was a weird sort of metaphor! He shook his head and chuckled softly to himself, but he quickly became quiet as the sounds of a couple arguing reached his ears and he stilled to listen. Just in case someone needed the healers, he told himself.

"Ìstaw, you are being unreasonable," the woman said, and she didn't sound angry so much as worried, which was mostly what had set Jake's senses tingling in the first place.

"It is not unreasonable to want better for you and little Tsamut, ma Txilte." the man replied, "and as I am now, I am a burden you do not need."

"You are no burden!" she insisted, "and even if you were I would not care. You are my life, ma Ìstaw, you and Tsamut together, and even if you do not think of me, think of him! He should not have to grow never knowing his father!"

"He might be better off if he did," there was sadness in the man's voice, and it sent chills through Jake's blood. He'd heard that tone before. Hell, he'd used that tone before himself. "After all," the man continued, "what use is a hunter who can no longer walk?"

Shit. Shit, shit and shit again. Jake really hadn't wanted to let on he was eavesdropping, but there were some things that just couldn't be ignored, and that was one of them. He turned toward the direction he'd heard the couple's voices coming from and strode swiftly over there, his tail lashing with purpose.

"I'm sorry for interrupting rude," he said in his still-halting Na'vi, "but I heard you and wrong. You are wrong," he said to the man. He frowned. Damn this was going to be difficult to translate.

"Oel ngatì kameie," The man said with great respect, "I am sorry our words troubled you, ma Toruk Makto." He shook his head, "For you it is still 'Ìnglìsì which is more easy?"

"It is, yeah, thanks," Jake sighed in relief. He'd thought they both looked vaguely familiar from evenings around the fire pit at Hometree, but he couldn't be sure. He took them both in with a quick glance and realized immediately why the man was so upset. He had evidently been in battle, and Jake could see that he had lost his right foot and leg a little below the knee. "Do you mind if I sit?" he asked, "I think maybe there's something you need to hear before you make any rash decisions, and quite honestly I can't think of anyone more right to tell you this but me."

"Of course you sit, ma Toruk Makto," the man said, "but I know not why trouble yourself."

"That's okay," Jake said with a smile as he eased himself down and settled across from the couple, "you'll understand soon enough. And please, call me "Jake". I'm just another warrior, a tsamsiyu like you are."

"I am Ìstaw," the man said, "and this is Txilte, my mate, and our new son Tsamut."

Jake gestured politely to Txilte and couldn't help but smile as he caught a glimpse of the tiny baby nestled against her chest. His face was serious, though, when he turned back to Ìstaw.

"You are Omatikaya," he said, "so you probably know quite a bit about my background. You know how I came to the clan, and that I'm uniltìranyu and all that, but do you know why I became uniltìranyu? Why I left my warrior clan and came here at all?"

"I know that story not," Ìstaw admitted.

"Ah," Jake nodded. "I wasn't sure. I've mentioned it to a few people, but I guess it didn't really make the rounds." He could see Ìstaw was looking a little confused, so he tried to make his language a bit simpler. "Back on Earth, the home of the tawtute, I was a warrior. A very proud warrior," he admitted, "but a good one. You've seen the kinds of weapons the sawtute have, guns and bombs and stuff like that, and that's what I used. That's also what the people I was fighting used, and one day I was very unlucky. A hidden bomb exploded near me. One of my warrior brothers was killed instantly and I and a warrior sister were injured. We were injured badly enough that we could no longer fight, in fact. For her it was not so very bad; her shoulder didn't work properly anymore, but there were still lots of things she could do. For me...I was injured in my back. Just about here," he pressed a finger just above his navel. "I don't know how common that kind of injury is for the Na'vi, but for humans it means everything lower than that place is dead."

"It not is common, but I know this hurt," Txilte whispered. "When it comes often life is short."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Jake nodded. "I'm sure it's much less common for Na'vi, but humans are pretty breakable," he chuckled humourlessly, "spinal injuries are common enough that we've pretty much figured out how to deal with them, but for a warrior, even with the best healing that's available, it means he's never gonna be a warrior again. For a long time, as I was lying in my bed in the hospital - the place of healing - waiting to learn how to be a man in a chair with wheels, I thought that my warrior brother was the lucky one. At least he had died a clean death, a warrior's death...a quick death. There was a time when I thought very hard about following him and removing my burden from the healers."

He watched Ìstaw's face very carefully as he told the story, and he could see that he had struck a nerve.

"In the end, though, I thought better of that decision," he said. "After all, I didn't want to give my enemies the satisfaction of breaking my spirit. I wasn't particularly happy about my situation, but I wasn't going to just take the easy way out either." Then he grinned. "And look how it ended up! If I hadn't gotten injured I'd probably still be back on Earth fighting in some meaningless scuffle over oil or some other bullshit, but instead I'm here."

"And you did good things here," Ìstaw said, "even though you had this bad hurt in your tawtute body. But I have no uniltìrantokx to wear that will let me walk again."

"No," Jake admitted, "but there are things the sawtute make that can fix a leg that's gone, or at least mostly fix it. But besides that, you may be missing a leg but you're not missing your brain, are you? Even if you can't walk properly you can still think, and do you know what that means? That means you can teach."

"But I will not take children running through the forest," he protested. "not like this."

"No," Jake shook his head, "but you can tell them things. And with a little help you can show them how to shoot their bows."

"I am one of the good with a bow..." Ìstaw admitted thoughtfully.

"Then that's what you should do," Jake said firmly. "I'll help get you a new leg - the kind the sawtute can make - if you want it, but in return you have to promise that you won't try to make yourself less of a burden by going out into the forest and asking the nantang to eat you."

Ìstaw glanced down at his missing leg again, then he closed his eyes, but when he looked up again he met Jake's gaze calmly. "I will agree to this," he said.

"I will make sure he keeps his promise," Txilte said as well, placing a possessive hand over her mate's bicep, "his strong arms were always more useful than his legs anyway."

That made Jake laugh. "You're a lucky man, Ìstaw," he grinned, "now I'd better go find my own mate before she thinks I've abandoned her. Eywa ngahu, ma eylan."

"Eywa Ngahu, ma Jhake," Ìstaw returned, and there was actually the beginnings of a smile on his face. "I wish you luck. Neytiri has always had a bit of a temper."

Mo'at nodded softly to herself as she looked over at Ateyo and Kxawn'e. Their search for Jake had taken them to the area where the healers were working, and they had come upon him deep in conversation with one of the injured. Mo'at hadn't wanted to interrupt him and had waited a polite distance away until he was finished speaking with them, but she and the men had been close enough to overhear his words, and they only strengthened her belief that she was making the right decision.

He didn't even seem to see her as he walked past, clearly deep in thought, so she reached out a hand and gently caught his wrist to stop him.

"That was well done, ma 'itan," she nodded gravely to him, "there has been too much loss of life already this season, and to prevent even one more life taken out of its proper time is a good thing."

"It was the right thing to do," Jake shrugged, "and I knew how the guy felt, so I was the right person to talk to him, that's all. But you're right, there has been way too much loss of life, and I didn't want to see another one wasted." He glanced at her and at the men standing on either side of her and he frowned slightly. "What brings you here?"

"We wished to speak to you," Ateyo explained, "but it might be better somewhere more quiet."

"Okay," Jake nodded. He was wary, she could see it clearly in his posture, but he was not openly suspicious yet, which was good.

"My daughter waits for us near the place where you sleep," Mo'at told him, "that will be quiet enough."

As they walked together in silence, Mo'at reminded herself of everything Neytiri had told her about how Jake was likely to react to what she was going to suggest. None of it had been really surprising to her, but she suspected it would be surprising to Jake. She knew he didn't think of himself as a leader, but it was clear for anyone to see who knew how to look that this was a man within whom the seed of a great leader would germinate and grow to a mighty tree. He was strong, but he could be gentle, and he had that most important quality: he was humble. It was obvious that even if he didn't realize it he was already caring for his people as a loving father would, all it wanted was for the situation to be formalized.

When they reached Neytiri Mo'at hung back for a moment, letting them greet each other and letting the presence of his mate calm Jake, and when his tail was still and his ears had raised again, that was when she and the men joined them in the small hollow they had chosen as their nest in this place.

"Alright," Jake said, frowning slightly (but not as much as when he hadn't had an arm wrapped around Neytiri, Mo'at noted with amusement), "what exactly is up here?"

"There is a situation which needs to be eased," Mo'at explained, "and the other elders and I have spoken and we all agree that you are the one to take on the burden."

The tip of Jake's tail flicked warily. "And just what "burden" is that?" he asked.

"It has been some days now since the battle and in all that time, Tsu'tey has not been found. Neither his living self nor his body," she began.

"Ohhhh no." Jake shook his head, his eyes looking a little wild. Clearly he could read the tracks of this just as well as any hunter. "No no no, you're not putting that on me. I'm Jake Sully, I'm not officer material!"

"Are you afraid to lead?" Ateyo frowned at him, "I expected better of the one my son followed into battle."

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Jake said proudly, "it's just...you don't want me, you want someone who knows what the hell he's doing. I don't even speak the language right!"

"And yet already you take on the role of olo'eyktan without even knowing," Kxawn'e said, "What you said to Ìstaw were clearly the words of a leader, and one who loves his people as his children."

"That was pure dumb luck," Jake insisted, "it only worked because we had something in common."

"It worked because you cared, ma 'itan," Mo'at corrected him gently, "and as for knowing what you are doing, you do not have to lead alone. I will be here, and the rest of the elders also. You will not be thrown before aynantang without even a knife to defend yourself. All leaders start this way."

"Then why can't you just deal with everything on your own?" Jake pointed out, "why do you need me at all?"

"The people need a voice and a face to love, ma Jhake," Neytiri reminded him, and Mo'at could see his arguments beginning to crumble.

"Goddamnit," he growled. "Fine then, I'll do it, but just temporarily. I'm not gonna take Tsu'tey's place from him, and I'm sure he's out there somewhere. That man is way too stubborn to die!"

"Alright," Mo'at agreed, "then we will say it is just for now." She knew it was not very likely that Tsu'tey would come back, even if he was, as Jake had said, very stubborn, but if he did return then the situation could be sorted out at that time. "Now perhaps you would like some time to think about what you will need to do. We will leave you here, and tomorrow we will make the announcement of your decision to the clan."

She sighed as she turned to leave her son-in-law to her daughter's tender care. It was a heavy burden she was placing on his shoulders, and not one she had ever expected to have to bestow twice in one season, but she knew she had made the right decision, and she knew Eytukan would agree. Oh, he would have argued about it, but eventually he would have agreed, because in the end, it was the right thing to do.

Although most of the time she drifted on the clouds of fluffy softness that had surrounded her and taken the pain away, as time went on, she slowly began to drift up toward the surface more and more. She could hear voices now and then, although they were mostly unfamiliar to her, and sometimes she half-remembered faces of people who she for some reason felt she should be worried about.

The Voice - the first one she'd heard and the one that actually spoke to her directly - assured her that everything was well, that there was no need to worry for her loved-ones and that they were all safe and she would see them soon, but she couldn't help holding onto just a little bit of that worry in a corner of her heart. It was a girl thing, Na' had always said, to worry about things just to be worrying about something, because even though boys thought they were the ones who took care of everyone really it was the girls who took care.

And somewhere out there, there was a boy who, she worried, was missing her and might go looking for her in the wrong places. Not that she was just all that sure what those "wrong places" would be, but she worried about them anyway, because when she left this place, as the voice said she soon would, she wanted the boy to be there with her. She was tired of them not being in the same place anymore.

And we leave things there for now, but have no fear, all will be revealed in the next chapter! Well, a lot will be revealed anyway, including a scene that I have no doubt fits in the category of "long-awaited". I never meant it to be quite as "long-awaited" as it has ended up being, but hopefully it will be worth the wait in the end.

Anyway, enough of that, on with the...

Vocab:

Ikran - banshee
tawtute / sawtute - sky person/people, human(s)
Olo'eyktan - clan leader
talioang - sturmbeest
(ay)uniltìranyu - dreamwalker(s), avatar(s)
(ay)nantang - viperwolf(wolves)
Toruk Makto - legendary warrior who brought the clans together (also Jake ^_~)
tawsìp - sky ship, aircraft
Vitrautral - Tree of Souls
Kelutral - Hometree
palulukan - thanator
sanhì - stars, or in this case bioluminescent freckles
yawne - beloved
yerik - hexapede
pa'li - direhorse
tsahìk - shaman, one who interprets the will of Eywa
tswin - queue
atokirina' - seeds of the sacred tree, messengers of Eywa
tsaheylu - the bond
Sa'nok - Mother
Oel ngatì kameie / Oel ayngatì kameie - I See you / I See all of you (for groups larger than three)
'angtsik - hammerhead titanothere
kunsìp - gunship
ulte - and, for connecting clauses (for lists, you use sì instead)
etrìpa syayvi - good luck
'Ìnglìsì - English language
tsamsiyu - warrior
uniltìrantokx - dreamwalker body, empty avatar
Eywa ngahu - Eywa be with you, polite parting statement
eylan - friends (this one's a bit tricky. If it were singular it would be 'eylan...can you all see the difference? XD )
'itan - son