Jake was exhausted; they all were. Once the hunters had located the new Hometree, the Omaticaya had been working to their utmost. He looked at all the racks of smoking and drying meat and said yet another silent and fervent thanks to Eywa because of the breathing space it represented.
His adopted clan had counted nearly 1,500 members before the original Hometree had fallen. That event had claimed a full fifth of the tribe. There had been oldsters who could not move quickly, children and infants, young adults who had been too high up in the Tree to get out in time, and all those like Eytukan who had been killed on the ground. The hunter / warriors had been just over ten percent of the tribe; between the destroyed Hometree and the Great War, a scant third of them were left. Jake had only fifty or so hunters left to provide for over a thousand people.
Those hunters were pushing themselves and their mounts to their limits. It had taken three full days of constant flying to ferry everyone and their belongings from the Tree of Souls to the new Hometree. Jake had insisted that they split their numbers in half; one to guard the new Tree and let their ikran rest while the other half ferried a load of people in. Then they would switch off. The elder warriors – those that were left – were impressed with his foresight.
Now, at last, the People were situated. And dog tired, Jake thought to himself. It had taken more than a day of bloody, backbreaking work to butcher the sturmbeest herd that Eywa had provided for them. His decision to keep half the hunters here at all times had been more than justified. Nothing like the smell of fresh blood to bring the scavengers in, he thought wryly. His hunters' bows had not been idle; more than sturmbeest hung from the drying-racks.
He'd felt incredibly guilty when he'd woken up and discovered he'd slept through the entire day following the transfer into his Avatar body while the Omaticaya worked. Neytiri had told him firmly that not a single Na'vi begrudged him the rest and that his first duty to the people was to recover his strength. He'd eaten ravenously – and then fallen asleep again. So he'd felt even more strongly the need to help out once he'd awoken on the second morning of his new life.
A hand waved at him from within the forest of drying-racks; Mo'at emerged and walked towards him. He was relieved to see some peace in the tsahik's face; she'd apparently come to terms with herself over Eytukan's death.
"Jake!" she called, "Come speak with me!" He obediently fell in step with his mother in law as she drew him away, out of earshot of the others. Concern showed in her face. "Has everyone been accounted for?"
He nodded wearily. "Ma'sa'tu's group is at the camp making sure nothing that we can use has been left behind, but the last group of young children and mothers came in this morning."
Mo'at nodded in approval. "Then the time has come for you to go."
Jake was certain he'd heard wrong. "I don't understand."
His mother in law took his upper arm and spoke earnestly. "Jake, there is pain between you and my daughter that must be healed, and soon." She looked into his eyes with concern, "I see it in her face. The longer it stays, the more it will poison her heart." He closed his eyes and exhaled. He'd seen it too, there had just been too damned much to do during their waking hours and too much exhaustion at night to be able to address it.
Mo'at let his arm go and continued. "It is the custom of the people that when a man and woman first mate that they go apart for a time. We believe that a person grows, changes when they take a mate. They no longer think the same way, act the same way, see things the same way as they did before." Jake nodded. It made sense.
"So," the tsahik said "they go apart for a time to learn themselves, and each other." Grief and regret appeared momentarily in her eyes. "If the Great Sorrow had not come the very day after you and Neytiri took each other as mates, if you had had that time to learn her, and us, we might have listened to you better when you tried to warn us."
He laid a hand on his mother-in-law's shoulder and said quietly "What has happened cannot be changed. Those who are gone live in Eywa now, and we can only be grateful that She has saved so many."
Mo'at brushed away a tear and nodded. "So. The Omaticaya are here, and have much work to do." She looked behind her at her fellow clan members. "They need work, to keep their minds and hands busy." Her attention came back to the Olo'eyctan. "And you and my daughter are not needed for a time. Take Neytiri and go, for two hands of days. Clear the pain between you before it grows too great. Take time to learn each other, and come back to us with peaceful hearts." He nodded agreement and watched as she turned and went back to the drying-racks.
The next morning, Jake simply took Neytiri's hand and walked her to their ikran as soon as they had eaten. To everyone's astonishment, a wild ikran had accompanied his when he'd called his friend to begin ferrying people to the new Hometree. He was shocked and delighted after he'd made tsahaylu with his ikran to discover that the wild one was his friend's mate – and that his mate had volunteered to be Neytiri's new mount. The People were astounded; nothing like this had ever happened before. But no one was inclined to look a gift ikran in the mouth, as it were.
So they mounted up and Jake directed them to the Hallelujah Mountains, to one of the floating islands that Mo'at had described and recommended. As soon as they'd landed, Jake patted his friend's neck and sent it off. The beast was delighted to be in its native territory and thrilled that they would stay there for several days. It nudged his hand happily, then flapped off with its mate in tow.
Neytiri, standing before him, was not happy; she looked about to burst into tears. Mo'at was right, he thought to himself, they needed to clear the air between them, fast. He walked over to his mate with love in his eyes, took her into his arms, and gently kissed her. She pulled back afterwards, the threatened tears making her eyes shine, and said "Jake…."
He put a finger to her lips to stop her and looked up to survey the area. There was an ideal place to sit just a short distance away. He took her hand and led her there. Jake sat, gently tugging on her hand until she sat between his legs. He encircled her shoulders with one arm and with the other reached behind him for his queue. He brought it forward, saying "It's been too long."
Neytiri brought her own queue forward slowly, not eager to share the guilt and pain she felt but knowing that it needed to be done, and touched her queue end to his. The tendrils intertwined, connecting their sensory nervous systems. She was in misery with guilt and remorse, and Jake – was full of love for her. It undid her completely, and the dam burst. "Jake, I was so bad to you. I didn't trust you, I pushed you away. The clan threw you out, almost killed you because of my words…."
Everything she had kept bottled up inside came spilling out. Jake put both arms around Neytiri and pulled her to his chest, rocking her gently and letting her get it all out of her system. Her greatest fear, the one behind all the others, was that he would not desire her any longer. How well he knew that fear! He focused on the love for her that he felt in his heart, a love so strong as to make her greatest terror an impossibility. She couldn't help but feel that love through their bond and it eventually gentled the fear out of her.
They sat together quietly for a while. Jake continued to gently rock her. After speaking with Mo'at, he had thought very carefully about what to say. When it was time he spoke softly "You never stopped Seeing me, you know."
Neytiri's head came up in shock.
He cupped her cheek in his hand "Think. If you hadn't rejected me, I would never have had to tame Toruk to restore your faith in me. I would never have thought to gather all the clans, or pray to Eywa for her help. The Omaticaya would have faced the Sky People alone. They, and the Tree of Souls, would have been destroyed."
Neytiri shuddered; his analysis was all too accurate. Jake slid his hand under her chin and made her look up at him before continuing "I believe that Eywa made you reject me temporarily, so that I would tame Toruk, gather the clans, warn her, and save the Tree of Souls. I believe you were only doing what She made you do, in order to save us all. How could I hold that against you, after all that Eywa has given me?"
Neytiri was in shock of a different kind now. What he described was so typical of the way Eywa worked that she had no doubt that he was absolutely right. A huge weight fell off of her heart and she looked at her mate in wonder "You are wiser than even I knew, Jake Sully."
His return smile was brilliant. He leaned in to her, grinned, and replied "Even if I am a skxawng." The sound of her laughter filled the air.
