Finally, it's here! Now I got to be honest with you guys, I have the main plan in my head, but not on paper, so for at least the first few chapters, I am really winging this.

So this is the sequel to 'Stay the Night', and for those of you who are too lazy (hey, not judging – I am too, my usual readers can tell you that) to read the full thing, here's all you need to know:

Eytukan and Grace had an affair for years before Sylwanin's death in 2153, where he threw her out of the clan. A year later, Jake came to Pandora, made some friends with the Na'vi, and hearing Grace was still around, Jake took her to the clan to see everyone, and Eytukan and her promptly started their affair again.

Bree, Grace's niece, came to Pandora herself as a 'fake' Avatar driver, meaning, like Jake, she never took the training and got there by having a deal with someone. She was trained by Tsu'tey, who fell in love with her and took her as a mate. This in turn, naturally, stuffed the natural order of things, and in that time, Mo'at found out about Eytukan's affair and effectively divorced him.

During all that was happening, Grace, Bree and Jake got pulled out of their Avatars by Miles, who held them hostage to try and get their Na'vi friends and lovers to come after them so he could kill the whole of the Omaticayan hierarchy before blowing up Hometree. Of course, his plan backfired, but as everyone came to save the Avatars, Mo'at got killed, and Eytukan's best friend, Adaman – who is really awesome, as you will discover – killed Miles with an arrow to the chest.

At Mo'at's funeral, Tsu'tey's mother found out about Grace and Eytukan's affair and told everyone about it, humiliating them all. After cheering Grace up, Eytukan proposed, and that brings us to this story. Sorry, that meant to be a really short summary, but that really wasn't.

So, now it's six months later, and Grace has become the temporary tsahík of the Omaticaya clan with Eytukan, and not everyone is too happy about it. And with several surprises and complications along the way, hats off to her if she stays with him!

Genre: Romance/Drama/Comedy/Friendship

Rated M for coarse language, sexual references, sex scenes, possible violence.

This story comes in parts.

Part One – First Class

Chapter One | Sticks and Stones

' "Are you as tired as I am?" she asked him softly, squinting as she tried to wake up.

"More," Eytukan swiftly told her, cutting down any hope of some sleep in as he stood up from the hammock to check on his bow, which he neatly placed in the corner of the room. "But I'm tougher, and I complain less." Grace scowled. '

Being a leader of a clan had its certain privileges, or that was what the hope was. You could do what you wished; you made the rules and no one stood in your way. That's at least what Grace had hoped for when she mated Eytukan. She was her own boss, with no obligations to anybody. No longer did the higher pecking order look down at her as she was the lowly Avatar; now she did that to them. Unfortunately, as she quickly realised, tsahíks are never their own boss.

"Come on, Gracie! Up, up!" came a cheerful voice through the fog of her brain. "Rise and shine, let's go."

Giving a mumbled groan of protest, Grace rolled over onto her front, her eyes firmly closed. She refused to get up, until she felt her top being pulled over so that the cold air hit her. Did Eytukan ever take 'no' for an answer? Apparently not… She sighed and stretched, pulling herself up from the hammock. She looked over to her mate, who was stretching himself. "Are you as tired as I am?" she asked him softly, squinting as she tried to wake up.

"More," Eytukan swiftly told her, cutting down any hope of some sleep in as he stood up from the hammock to check on his bow, which he neatly placed in the corner of the room. "But I'm tougher, and I complain less." Grace scowled.

Creaking her neck, she cast a glance outside, between the branches that made up a type of window, and she gave a groan of utter horror. The freaking stars were still out! "Eytukan, the sun isn't even out yet…"

Eytukan exhaled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Every day, it was the same old argument, just with a few words changed. When he had mated Grace, Adaman, the ever faithful companion and advisor, had been quick to warn him she wouldn't be able to do all the things Mo'at had done as leader, and Eytukan had been fine with that – he loved Grace, and he had faith in her. But after six months, she could have at least tried to get more used to it. "A good leader rises before the sun," he calmly told her, making her clamp her jaw before another disagreement came. "It's what my father always told me, and I've always stuck by it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not a leader – I'm just filling in until Neytiri is ready, remember? And whoever her mate will be now," Grace shot back. Thanks to Tsu'tey becoming mates with her niece, Bree, the whole Omaticayan leadership had been thrown out of balance. It was most likely why the elites hadn't told Eytukan to kick Grace off her perch and choose a different tsahík – they couldn't get another. That, and the stare that he gave them whenever they started to suggest such a notion made them back off and mumble an apology.

They couldn't be blamed for trying to get Grace off the team – she had no idea what she was doing. Everyone knew it, but they were too softly spoken to say. The only person who seemed blinder towards it was Eytukan, and it pissed a lot of the elites off. Neytiri was firmly in that camp, but she was the only one who wasn't afraid to say it to her father's face, spurring many embittered words between them. Grace was placed within the 'Unsafe Topic' section, and neither of them brought her up much.

The howl of the morning wind brought a chill to the leader's room, and Grace gave a shiver. She had never realised how cold this place got during the middle of the year. While Pandora suffered a tropical climate, there were those two or so weeks where the temperature was what would be cold. "Can I have my top back?" Grace asked, seeing as Eytukan had whipped it off of her to get her up. It was an effective way of saying 'Good morning'. "My nipples could cut stone over here!"

A bemused chuckle came from Eytukan. "Well, seeing them like that is a nice sight for my eyes," he teased, before throwing it back.

Grace deftly caught the piece, putting it back on. It wasn't meant for cold weather, either, since it was the usual Omaticayan clothing, with the women just wearing a top piece and a loin cloth. Grace got something a little extra, which was a cape of red that went around her shoulders. That material was still terribly thin, so it was ineffective against the weather. "If that was meant to make me laugh," Grace growled softly, "It didn't work."

Eytukan smiled lightly, coming over to her. "Yet I can see the hint of a smile on your face," he told her, coming to sit beside her on the hammock. He leant over to press a loving kiss to her lips. "You'll be fine." Seeing Grace not quite believing him, he added, "Well since you've been tsahík, no one has been killed yet, so I think you're in the clear."

"Oh, get out of here!" Grace growled, and Eytukan chuckled and kissed her softly before standing up to leave.

"Also, don't forget Bree and Tsu'tey are coming home today," Eytukan reminded her before leaving.

"Right… how could I forget that? Lucky bastards, they get time off," she grumbled to herself. Grace was muttering obscenities under her breath, completely unaware of the second being that had come into her room. She turned around and gave a gasp of fright, swallowing air. "God, Adaman, you scared the hell out of me…"

Her ever faithful healer and friend came over to her, comfortingly patting her back, his strong hand clasping on her shoulder. "Sorry, darling," Adaman smirked, before letting his best friend's wife go. "Are you ready?"

Grace looked at Adaman in confusion. "For what?"

"Ixchel asked to see you."

"Oh, fuck her."

"Grace!"

"I am damn well serious," Grace snarled, clearly pissed off. The healer inside Adaman wondered if her term was here, but he quickly dispelled that idea. "I really wish she'd just… disappear off the planet. Or at least out of my vision."

Adaman looked at his leader softly. "As a leader, you are supposed to love every clan member."

"Eytukan hated Ateyo, and you did too. And Mo'at hated me," Grace reminded her friend. "Some flawed rule you have there then."

Giving a sigh, Adaman looked at Grace gently, trying to ascertain her main problem. "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the hammock this morning?"

"I'll be fine," Grace sighed, rubbing her temples. She was exhausted, as he could tell as he looked at her eyes, seeing the white parts lined with red. "I'm just getting used to this, that's all. What time will lunch be? Maybe I can catch a couple of minutes of shut eye."

"You do not have time for that, unfortunately – but I packed something for you." Grace made a face. "What? It's hexapede steak – your favourite!"

Grace sighed, taking the carefully leaf-wrapped bundle. "Thanks," she answered with a bit of a yawn.

Nodding understandingly, Adaman took her hand to drag her downstairs. "I'll go get you some tonic from the medical centre. Will that make it better?"

A small smile tugged at the edges of her mouth, and she looked at him. "How did I luck out getting a friend like you?"

"I just got low standards."

· · ·

After years of heartache, Tsu'tey had resigned himself that he would never find love again. Losing Sylwanin had been the most painful moment of his life, and always would be, he thought. He had thrown himself into his position as a warrior and pushed all other possibilities of a relationship out, thinking he'd be alone for the rest of his days. Besides, he hadn't been the marrying type.

A yell came from Tsu'tey as he felt himself falling forward, before he headed towards the floor. He quickly put his hands out to stop his fall, slapping his palms to the ground but being weary of his wrists. He snarled and whipped around, before immediately taking it back. He smiled as he looked at the woman above him, who leant down to press a loving kiss to his forehead. "Pinned ya!" Bree teased, a triumphant smirk dancing upon her beautiful face, mischievous fires dancing in her eyes. After Tsu'tey had looked into those eyes properly, he had decided he was the marrying type after all.

"Let me up," Tsu'tey smirked, gently pushing Bree off him. He kissed her lips quickly before dusting himself off. "What was with the pinning?"
"For fun. Can't I have fun?" Bree acted hurt, before flicking her tail across his chest.

"Well it's not fun if the head warriors mate can pin him."

Bree gave a chuckle, squeezing her mate's hand. "Come on, tiger, let's get going home, hmm?"

· · ·

One of the most unpleasant aspects of Grace's day-to-day work was the handling of the clan's troubles regarding other clans. The Omaticaya had very few enemies, mainly since Eytukan had either won them over just before he became leader or after, or they were too terrified to dare stand up to practically the strongest clan in the country. However, there were some that still wanted to pick a battle, particularly thanks to the leadership change. As a general rule, the Na'vi were a gentle folk, though Eytukan and Adaman could tell them otherwise.

Grace sighed as she watched the main warriors argue on whether the best course of action was ignoring the possible threat, or meeting them head to head. This had easily gone on for over an hour, and she couldn't take it anymore. Adaman's tonic had done wonders to wake her up, but now she wished she had some to keep her up. She was finally saved, however, by someone she didn't particularly know if she wanted to be saved by. "Grace?" came a voice from behind her. Grace smiled at the warriors and excused herself, coming to see who needed her attention.

"Hello, Neytiri," Grace greeted politely. "How can I help you?"

A twist downward of the mouth was the response from the princess. She stared coldly at her step-mother, refusing to call her that. She wouldn't. She would not conform to that. Eytukan hadn't made her, and it proved he was smart; he knew perfectly well if he tried that on her, Neytiri wouldn't speak to him again. "You were meant to come and help me at the school today. And you didn't. Again."

A flicker of innocent ears made Neytiri grit her teeth, and Grace sighed. "Oh, God, I know. I'm so, so sorry honey – it completely slipped my mind." The tsahík cast a glance to the warriors before back to her daughter, giving her a smile. "Who knew it would take so long to position ourselves for a possible attack?"

Slowly, a smile came over her face, and Neytiri nodded, understanding. "Oh, it's all right."

"Thank you, I knew you'd understand," Grace smiled, about to head back to the group.

"If there's anything you're good at, it's positioning yourself as tsahík." Grace stopped in her tracks, robotically moving to face her, mouth agape. Neytiri gave her a cold stare before moving away from her, leaving her stunned. "Hello, father."

That greeting told Grace of her mate's entrance, but she was too frozen by Neytiri's harsh comment that she didn't react until Eytukan's hand gently touched hers. "You coming downstairs?" he asked her softly, smiling. Thank goodness he didn't understand English.

"Bree and Tsu'tey are back, then?" Grace questioned her mate, snapping herself out of the induced trance. Eytukan confirmed it with his eyes, taking her hand to go downstairs to the main area of the clan. Neytiri hesitated, and decided to follow them. The three walked out to just outside of Hometree. It was a beautiful spot, she had always thought, with the floor being covered in a beautiful moss that sprang up at their feet. The trees surrounding it made a natural wall of forest, blocking out the majority of the strong sunlight. Bree stood with her mate as Grace came over to her. She gave a wide smile and ran up to hug her; Grace kissed her hair. "Hello, darling."

Bree laughed as she was crushed by her aunt. "Hello, aunt Grace – I'm home," she smiled, kissing her cheek before going to hug Eytukan in return. He smiled and patted her back warmly. Bree was a wonderful girl, and he owed her a lot for bringing the old Tsu'tey back.

"Aww, am I missing out on all the hugs?" came another voice to join the chorus. Tsu'tey looked over to see his friend, Jake, coming over to greet them. He felt strange looking at him, wearing his old feathers of the head warrior. Tsu'tey had traded that in for more feathers, signaling he was the second-in-command. Bree smiled as she saw her friend, coming to hug him. "Ah, much better."

Neytiri looked at Bree, smiling at her gently. "Did you have a fun time?" she questioned as she hugged her.

"Oh, the best," Bree agreed, before she felt the warmth of the hug tugged away. Tsu'tey smiled as he thought Neytiri was coming to give him a hug, putting his arms out to receive her, until she went right past him. He frowned, and followed her path with his eyes to where she went. Jake stiffened as he saw who she went to hug instead.

"Hey," Tsu'tey asked him, "When did lover boy get back from Syawä Na'ring?"

Jake watched as Neytiri cavorted in the arms of Tsyal. He didn't understand what she saw in him. Come to think of it, no one did. He tried to be the man who could tell himself that if she was happy, he was, but that was total bullshit. She should have been with him… This wasn't fair. He had been with her for three months, and had been her shoulder to cry on for ages after Mo'at! This was not how a fairytale romance was supposed to go. "A couple of nights ago," he said, stifling a growl of anger.

Grace shot a look to Jake which was unreadable, before looking back to her niece and Tsu'tey. "Well, come on in. Everyone's dying to see you."

"Um, Grace?" Jake asked as she started to lead the duo away. "Ixchel wanted to see you, I think Adaman told you?"

Biting back a snarl, Grace gave an apologetic look to her niece and Tsu'tey, who nodded understandingly. "See you later. If there's a later for me after talking to her," she added quietly. She quickly kissed Eytukan's cheek. "I'll be back," she promised.