The Transformation (Original, right?)

Author's Note: Hey all, I just kinda came up with this one on the fly…Listening to sad songs…So it's pretty random. Anyway, please read and feel free to review afterewards!

Once the crowd of Na'vi settled—virtually almost all of the population, save for a few hundred that remained in their villages for security—Mo'at turned to her daughter, nodding towards her. Neytiri knows that the transformation is about to begin, and she moves quickly to crouch beside her human mate.

"It is almost time, Jakesully," Mo'at tell him as she readies herself for the ceremony. Jake nods towards his mother-in-law, and then looks towards his mate.

Neytiri's eyes meet her Jake's with fear evident within them.

"Don't worry," he says soothingly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right over there when I come back," he says, jerking his chin towards his avatar body, which was laying symmetrically next to him. When Neytiri still doesn't look convinced, he leans up towards her, placing his hand on her cheek.

"I won't ever leave you, okay?" Jake reassures her as his thumb caresses her cheek. "No matter how much Eywa wants me," he adds with a grin. Neytiri smiles wanly but remains apprehensive. Jake sees that her fears won't be quelled easily, and decides that the only way she'll believe he'll pull through this is for him to actually pull through.

As Mo'at began chanting, the People started to join in, their combined voices echoing off the rock walls of the Well of Souls. Jake let their swaying voices take over his senses, effectively calming him into unconsciousness as he closed his eyes—beginning the metamorphosis. As he slowly slips away into darkness, the last thing he feels is someone kissing his eyes.

"Rutxe, Eywa…Rutxe…" Neytiri chanted softly in a whisper, leaning over her mate's Na'vi body, her hands on either side of his face. The atokirina were settling carefully all around his body, and some were hovering in the air.

The gathered crowd hushed to silence as Mo'at called out. The Tsahik was poised about the pair, looking intently on. Neytiri didn't once take her eyes off of Jake's blank face as the crowd suspended itself in anxious anticipation.

"Jake…please, Jake," Neytiri murmured, bringing her face level with his and closing her eyes in prayer. "Come back to me now, Jake."

After a few minutes of complete silence, Neytiri was starting to get desperate. When he still didn't open his eyes, she moved closer to Jake's face, applying more pressure with her hands, trying to revive him. When he gave no response, Mo'at waited a minute or two more before moving towards her daughter.

"Ma ite," Mo'at says gently, crouching down to lay a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There…is nothing that can be done—"

"No," Neytiri says firmly, vigorously shaking off her mother's hand, unwilling to accept the elder woman's words. "No. He—he can't. He…won't leave me. Not now," she whispers. "Jake—please don't leave me…Jake…Jake, come back to me," she pleads, shaking his face in her hands. "You," she chokes on her words, leaning closer and closer to his motionless form, "you've done it before. You can come back to me, my Jake."

"Ma ite…"

"NO!" She screams, whirling around to face her mother, tears falling down her face. The crowd, which, just a moment ago was tittering with expectation, had become speechless. All eyes were fixed on the devastated Na'vi huntress as she waited in vain for her mate to complete the transformation.

"Neytiri," Mo'at says softly, addressing her grief-stricken daughter. "There is nothing you can do. There is nothing I can do. You must…say goodbye," she advises gently.

"No," she chokes out in realization. "No, no, no, no! I—I can't!" Neyitri wails, her voice cracking, panic in her eyes. "I just can't. He—he has to be here. He…He promised me he wouldn't leave. He…he pro-promised," she says, faltering. Mo'at once again places a compassionate hand on her shoulder, and this time, Neytiri doesn't shrug her off. "He told me he would come back for me," she whispers, heartbroken. "He…he said he would—would never leave me. Not again," she breathes, unable to move.

"I know, ma ite. I know," Mo'at says soothingly as she grasps her daughter's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. The elder Tsahik feels her daughter's body stiffen underneath her own—Neytiri has made her decision. Mo'at draws backing, giving her young child one last moment with her mate.

Neytiri knows that she must do what needs to be done. The huntress leans towards her dreamwalker, taking his face once again between her hands. Trying to regain what possible composure she has left, Neytiri bends down and kisses him softly on both eyes, just as she did for his tawtute body when the doomed transformation began.

"Eywa ngahu, ma Jhake. Oel ngati Kameie si nga yawne lu oer," Neytiri whispers quietly to him, her tears falling onto his face, becoming his own. Eywa be with you. I See you and I love you. Neytiri steels herself for a minute more, looking on at his seemingly serene face, save for her teardrops cascading down his cheeks. Her hand slowly reaches backward to grab the hilt of her hunting knife at her waist. She brings it forward, more tears falling off of her face and onto his as the reality of what she is about to do catches up with her.

"Oel ngati Kameie, ma tsmukan—my Jake—ulte ngaru seiyi ireiyo. Ngari hu Eywa saleu tìrea."

I See you, brother, and I thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa. With this prayer, Neytiri kisses him one last time on the lips before clenching the dagger in her hand and bringing it to linger above Jake's body. After sending one final, desperate plea to Eywa, Neytiri grips the knife, holding it just millimeters above—

"Hey," Jake says groggily, coming to and looking up at her. "Where'd you just go?"

A radiant smile breaks out across Neytiri's face as tears of euphoria fall down her cheeks and all of her fears evaporate.

"Nowhere. I'm right here," Neytiri says as she leans down to kiss him. "I'll always be here." She smiles brilliantly at him, and when he smiles back, her previous horrors float away—making them seem so insignificant in the face the happiness ahead of them.

"Good," he replies kissing her quickly again before getting up and standing tall among the assembled Na'vi. The congregation bursts out into loud cheers and whoops when they see their very own Toruk Macto healthy and alive among them.

Jake looks out towards his kind, grinning, relieved that they didn't shy away from his human form when he transformed and that they still had his back—no matter what body he was in. He held his hand out to his mate, and they stood together among their people.

They might not be ready to lead, but they could sure as hell try. That's all anyone was asking for, right?

All they needed was their People, each other, and a bit of luck.

Translations:

Rutxe: please

Ite: daughter

Tawtute: Sky Person

Toruk Macto: "Rider of Last Shadow"

Oel ngati Kameie, ma tsmukan—my Jake—ulte ngaru seiyi ireiyo. Ngari hu Eywa saleu tìrea: "I See you, brother, and thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa." Note: I found this translation of the hunting prayer online—and I omitted the last part—so I'm not sure if it's correct. I've gotten varied answers, but I'm just going to go with this one for now.

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