A/N: I know, I'm a bad girl, working on four stories at once, but I must! This is my first non-Naruto fanfic, so I hope it gets reviews!

This is mainly set among the Na'vi, so English won't be commonly spoken. It will be spoken occasionally, though! It will be typed to look different than normal, since normal for this story is Na'vi. Also, words you should know of Na'vi, like skxawng, moron, or faketuan, alien, I will spell as the Na'vi say it. If anyone gets confused, contact me and I will explain.

Everyone knows how Jake Sully dreamed of flying before he came to Pandora. I was very different. I constantly dreamed of running. I dreamed of the freedom to run unchecked through a lush forest, and yet I could walk or run whenever I chose. When I was growing up, I was not what you would call normal. For one thing, the language I had grown up speaking was not the language spoken by everyone else. For another, I had graduated college with honors before I was eight years old. Of course, I had good reason for that. I was supposed to be a prodigy, meant to be an eight-year-old scientist.

Before I was born, my scientist parents had entered a contract with the government. They had recently created an unproven medical serum that accelerated brain capacity, memory, speech centers, and, most importantly, intelligence. The government got them to see what would happen if they wrote the serum's code into a human's DNA. So, my parents created me, writing in the substitute pattern. They did, however, resolve that I would have three years of a school-less childhood. They were Na'vi enthusiasts. They were in love with Pandora, the Na'vi, everything about them.

When I was born, they only spoke Na'vi around me. When I turned two they began to teach me English, better known as Common. Thus, I went through my life with a Na'vi accent. I became, at eight years of age, a prominent scientist continuously discovering new ways to keep our dying planet alive. I had been raised, for however short a time, with Na'vi values about the life of a place. I loved plants, but I rarely saw them. I hated the gray drabness of Earth, its lack of greenery. I couldn't help that. I hadn't destroyed the earth. I had been born approximately three years after the ill-fated attempt to mine Pandora.

But, I am rambling again. My name is Tanhita'em, pronounced Tawn-ee tah-em. It's Na'vi for Star Up Above. I go by Tanhi, even now. I should get on with the story I intended to tell you. It was my tenth birthday, and no one cared. I was alone in my lab at four in the morning, splicing plant DNA onto a chicken, to see if citric acid could be consumed from easily raised poultry instead of difficult-to-grow orange trees. I wasn't having much luck.

"Dammit! Stupid chicken!"

The beaked offender clucked at me forlornly. It had just begun to sprout tail feathers made of leaves. Not at all what I was looking for. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my lab coat. I was so busy trying to fix the chicken that I didn't even notice someone enter my lab. When I did, I didn't even bother to turn around. At this time, only one person would possibly be awake aside from myself. He also happened to be the last person I wanted in my lab. General Markl Howell Fikes, the jarhead face of the government.

I started mumbling to myself in what I always consider as my first language, Na'vi. General Fikes didn't speak a word of it, which was an added bonus. "Stupid skxawng, barging in before sunrise. I will kill him if he doesn't have a good reason."

He walked up behind me, his six foot six inch frame dwarfing my tiny ten-year-old body, causing me to turn around and begin chewing him out. "Why are you here, General? Have I committed a...cap-ee-tal offense?" I still had trouble with some words, and the accent was unavoidable. The skxawng of a jarhead merely laughed loudly.

"Hell no, Doctor. I was just curious what you were working on so late, or so early, as it were."

I was not about to tell the idiot. Every time I spoke Na'vi, he laughed. He constantly told me I wasn't 'one of the blue monkeys.' I, in turn, reminded him that the Na'vi had brutally and effectively driven the humans, the skypeople, out of Pandora while he was still a private. He had been lucky not to be killed by Jake Sully, as he had called him 'Meals on Wheels' when Jake first came to Pandora. I was about to respectfully request that he leave my lab when his earpiece made a sound. I couldn't quite hear, but I became confused very fast as all the blood drained out of his face. He bent towards me, whispering now. "Doctor...er...Tahnita'em, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yes, what is it, man? I have meetings in three hours."

He gulped. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Doctor, but some of my men have just discovered the bodies of your parents in an alley on West Side New York. They were mugged and shot, ma'am."

My...my parents? I was shocked. Then angry.I began speaking in Na'vi, angrily. "Stupid tawtute! Killing people for money! Why? They have no respect for life!"

I was clutching the table for support. My parents were dead. Dead and gone, and me a ten-year-old. I couldn't believe it. I looked up, and General Fikes was gone. I ran across the lab, forgetting all about the leaf-tailed chicken. My fingers flying over the V-board, I typed in the command to turn on the voice-sensitive computer. It dinged and said, "Please state the nature of the scientific need."

I quickly began to speak. "Computer, what is the minimum amount of human DNA needed to create a functioning AVATR body?"

"Five point three percent."

"Is there Na'vi DNA available?"

"Classified information. Please enter access code."

"Doctor Tanhita'em, alpha alpha beta five."

"Code accepted. Please say a command."

"If Na'vi DNA is available, can you place it in a container that will hold it in stasis for transport?"

"Affirmative. Commence storage?"

"Use DNA of a female Na'vi and commence."

"Storing...Storage complete. Is there a human sample you wish to add?"

"Add DNA from Doctor Tanhita'em. Combine, store and process."

"Percentage?"

"Five point three."

"Commencing...Command complete. Eject container for transport?"

"Yes. Station five B."

I watched the computer slowly allow a small plexiglas phial eject from the slot. I took it, then said, "Computer, delete history from four-thirteen AM to four-twenty AM, then commence shutdown."

The computer complied, and I left, heading to my next destination: The military shipyard on campus. I was leaving this ball of rock behind and going to Pandora, all by myself, with six years ahead of me to be spent growing my Avatar and preparing to enter the world of the Na'vi.

Since it was so early in the morning, no one barred my way, carrying the carefully wrapped stasis chamber containing my future. I was not blinded by rage, but fueled by cold, somewhat cruel determination. If my only family was gone, Earth had no place for me. I would work over the course of six years to make myself less human, more Na'vi. I knew that I could help the Na'vi. I knew how many babies had died because the healers didn't know what to do with a baby facing the wrong way. I did. I snuck over to a tiny science vessel, just big enough to house four crew members. It had a lab, however. This was the original ship on which the first Avatar was grown. Because of this, it had a facility I could create my Avatar in. I opened the spring-release door, making my way straight to the laboratory. I place the DNA tube in a slot. "Computer."

-Bleep- "Please state the nature of the scientific need."

"Transfer language parameters to Na'vi and use DNA in slot sixteen C to begin creation of a Na'vi Avatar."

"Commencing."

Good. I wouldn't have to worry about speaking English. I began liftoff procedures. The ship was silent as a ghost as it entered the air. As soon as I entered space, I set the ship on autopilot, straight for Pandora, and shut down life support to three of the four crewman's quarters, diverting all extra power to the lab. I took my last look at Earth, and nearly cried at the gray ball. The oceans were brown, there was gray-signaling cement-everywhere, and I could even see some of the gigantic ziggurat-shaped gray housing structures called Linears, made to house the overblown population. I turned from the window and returned to the lab, preparing for what I hoped would be my new life on Pandora.

Six years. Six long years. For six years, I had maintained the science vessel, the growing avatar, and myself. I had worked on the ship, outside in a space suit, fixing the patchy outer hull while the ship traveled at three thousand light years per minute. I had grown during this time, from a young, rash child of ten to a focused, more mature young woman of sixteen.

I glanced at the amino tank behind me, staring with wonder at the nine-foot-long being floating in the nutrient liquid. It moved now, turning its head, a fist curling here, an ear flicking back there. I saw its face, with the flat, catlike nose and large eyes. It wasn't me, and yet...I saw my own features reflected in it. My thin-bridged nose translated to a slightly less wide one on my avatar. My eyes were large for a human, so the avatar's eyes were larger than normal, about the size of a regular Na'vi. The only reason that this body wasn't me yet was because I was here, on the outside looking in. I smiled when I looked closely at the mouth of the avatar. It seemed to be smiling, ever so slightly, a mere curl of the corners of the mouth. It kicked then, hard. Its foot hit the side of the tank, creating a loud thwud! I jumped, then resettled. I turned out the lights in the lab. As I walked back to the small set of rooms and prepared for sleep, I could hardly stop myself from shaking. I was due to arrive on Pandora in twenty-four hours. I was close.

Plants whipped around me, ferns, tree leaves, things I had never seen. I felt soft loam under the soles of my bare feet, moving at high speed. I was running. I was free.

I sat up in my bed, looking around myself, bewildered. "Gah-wha-"

I stared at the Earth Mean Time clock on the shelf. Six thirty-five AM, Greenwich Mean Time. "Crap! I slept in!"

I whipped off the blanket, throwing on my clothing. "I'm such a skxawng!"

I bolted to the lab, shoveling the last of a ration down my throat. I would be arriving at Pandora in seven hours. I had to triple-check my Avatar, mix gases in the ship to those of Pandora, put on an exopack, land the ship and get my avatar out of the amino tank before it grew another inch. I also had to find the Na'vi. I began checking the avatar over, mumbling to myself. "Okay, reflexes, fine, organs, functioning, Tsa'haylu tendrils..." I ran a double check on the pink tendrils that would float from the end of my avatar's braid, which extended down to slightly past the base of its tail. "Working." I breathed a sigh of relief. If those didn't work, I was totally screwed for good. I dug an exopack out of a nearby cabinet and placed it over my face, sealing it. My voice muffled by the plastic, I began to configure the air on the ship.

"Computer, re-mix the gas ratio on board ship. Twenty percent nitrogen, ten percent oxygen, twenty percent helium, and fifty percent carbon monoxide."

The ship complied, and I turned to the amino tank, beginning the process of removing the avatar body from it. I placed a special gurney outside the tank door, then began draining the liquid. When my avatar's nose and mouth were uncovered, I surgically removed the artificial umbilical cord, separating it so that it didn't leave a stump. I then drained the rest of the fluid with the hatch open, taking about fifteen minutes to place my avatar on the gurney. I carefully dressed it in a wraparound skirt I had found on the ship and an old baggy t-shirt, which was all I had on hand. I had planned to get traditional Na'vi clothes once I talked to Jake Sully. I knew all about Toruk Makto, and knew that I needed to speak with him to reach my goal. I left the avatar on the gurney, which was now stuck to the floor, and began to prepare for landing. I looked up from the console in front of me and gasped in wonder. Pandora was spread below me, green and blue and lush, the exact opposite of Earth. The giant Polyphemus, above it, attracted my attention for a split second, then I looked back at Pandora. I saw a relatively tiny, but still obvious, brown scar. I figured that was the old RDA station. I set landing for that spot and sat back to wait for the time when I would finally land on the soil of the planet I had spent six years of my life working to reach.

Ten minutes and fourteen seconds later, I touched down on the surface of Pandora. I had been busy running a few more scans on my avatar when there was a light thud and the hissing of an opening door. My exopack was fogged with the heat of my breath, so excited was I. I carefully glanced out the open ramp. The sight that greeted me would have frightened any human not raised knowing about these things out of their mask. Ikran, blue, green, purple, roared everywhere, Pa'li reared and bucked, squealing, and on and around them, a thousand neurotoxin-dipped arrows aimed directly at my head and heart.

I walked onto the ramp, hands raised to show thet I was weaponless. A tall male Na'vi walked out of the crowd, which parted in front of him like ancient Moses and the Red Sea. He was nine foot six, very tall for a Na'vi. As he approached, I noticed a number of things. First, he had a bow painted in the colors of the creature called Toruk, what the humans called a Great Leonopteryx. Second, his hair, while it was in the traditional warrior's style, was colorfully decorated with beads. His eyes and nose were also somewhat smaller than normal. He had eyebrows, and five fingers. This told me that he was Jake Sully, Toruk Makto. He bent in front of me, his great golden eyes boring through my comparatively tiny gray ones. He softly, carefully spoke to me like he might a frightened Pa'li. "Who are you, human?"

I looked up at him, then spoke in Na'vi, fluent as a native. "I See You, Olo'eyktan." I had guessed what he had become by the beaded collarlike garment he wore. "I am the only human on that ship. My name is Tanhita'em, and I mean you no harm."

He looked skeptical. "And you expect me to believe that, human?"

I nodded. "Because it is the truth, yes. Search this vessel if you wish. You will find an avatar body, nothing else. The avatar is mine. If you will allow it, I will tell you my reasons for appearing here."

Jake motioned to a pair of warriors. "Search it. If she lies, she will die. If not, bring the dreamwalker body out with you."

The warriors nodded and entered the ship. Now, all I had to do was convince them of my true intentions. As I sweated it out on the dirt, Jake looked down at me with what appeared to be concern, saying, "How old are you? How do you speak Na'vi so well?"

I was more than happy to tell him. "I'm sixteen. I stole this ship to get away from Earth when I was ten. I speak Na'vi because I was raised with it as my primary language."

Jake was about to say something else, but was cut short by the return of the two warriors, carrying my avatar body between them. I heard a few shocked whispers of uniltranitokx and faketuan, as well as a couple vrrteps thrown in here and there. Jake looked askance at the warriors. "Zan'sa. Pamti'gra. Does she lie?"

The shorter of the two, Zan'sa, shook his head. "No, Olo'eyktan. She tells the truth."

The other warrior, Pamti'gra, who had a scar running down his left cheek, various other ones covering his body and a ragged ear, nodded his agreement. "There were no lights in other areas of the vessel. Only the area we found the body in and a small set of alcoves set up for sleep."

Jake turned to me. "And why do you wish to be here?"

"I wish", I hesitated, "I wish to leave the Tawtute behind and become Na'vi. I have no love for the Tawtute or their gray planet."

Jake's ears perked. He was interested. "You say your name is Tanhita'em?"

"Yes. It is."

"That's a Na'vi name. It means Star Up Above."

"Yes, I know, Olo'eyktan. All I want is for you to allow me to pass through the Eye of Eywa. She can decide whether or not I am worthy."

Jake frowned, then turned to the crowd. "People! Is there one among you who can confirm Eywa's judgement?"

The crowd parted, and a short female Na'vi stepped forward. She was not naturally born, that much was clear in her eyebrows, five fingers and speech. Her Na'vi was good, but not as good as Jake's, nor as good as mine. Her golden eyes smiled at me. "I am Sara Mason of the Tipani Clan. I have passed through the Eye of Eywa, and shall determine if this Tawtute is worthy of trial."

She stepped up to me, put her large hand over my heart, and looked directly at my eyes. Golden orbs bored into my heart, my soul, me. She said, "what would you say about Earth, knowing its history?"

I answered without hesitation. "It is hard to watch something die right in front of you, but the hardest part is knowing how alive it used to be."

She stepped back with a smile on her face. "This one is worthy, Jake. She may even pass Eywa's test."

With that, the strange Tawtute-turned Na'vi disappeared into the crowd of blue faces. Jake looked at me, smiling at my slightly unnerved expression. "You are very lucky, Tanhita'em, that we were in the middle of a meeting between clans when you were spotted. Otherwise, you would probably be dead. Sara is part of the coastal Tipani clan, a very smart, successful and intelligent member who is highly valued. If she thinks you can pass, you just might."

He turned to the rest of the assembled Na'vi. "Members of the Omaticaya, tell Tsahik to bring everyone to the Tree of Souls. We are testing this Tawtute!"

I was bodily swung onto an Ikran, held at the waist by Jake himself. Hundreds of Ikran took off, the one I was on included. I looked down and nearly bit Jake's finger off. For some reason, the sight of the trees scared me. I couldn't handle the tops moving so fast below. I guess it was just the movement of the Ikran's wings. It was nothing like running. I felt as if I was tossing up and down on an angry ocean, wracked by the cries of dying animals. So, I clung to Jake's large hand and squeezed my eyes shut. I was flying, and I hated it.

I only opened my eyes when I felt the ikran touch down. I prayed to Eywa I wasn't on a tree branch, since I would probably slip and die as a human. When my feet hit the ground, I sighed in relief at the feel of grainy dirt under my toes. My shoes had fallen off during the flight. I realized, looking around, that I was at what must have been the Omaticaya Kelutrel. A humongous spiraling tree, roots twisted and torqued, gnarly limbs over a hundred feet wide high above my head. The next thing I realized was that two female Na'vi were walking towards Jake and I. One was clearly the Tsahik, beads dripping everywhere, her braid somehow becoming two and being tied in front, not behind her. She was also old. Not human old, wrinkled and weak, but Na'vi old, streaks of gray shooting through her hair, a steely look about her that just made you want to turn tail and run, were it not for the fact you would probably be dead before you got very far. The other Na'vi was a bit younger than Jake appeared to be, with a beautiful face that seemed carved out of blue ebony. I realized their names as Jake called out, "Kaltxi, Mo'at! Kaltxi, Neytiri! I brought the strange tawtute. Sara Mason thinks she can pass Eywa's test."

The Tsahik, Mo'at, bent to look at my face. "She has your eyes, Jakesully. Determined, not giving up." She quickly whipped out a thorn hung around her neck, stabbing me in the side.

"Ouch!"

As I watched, she tasted the blood on the thorn. Her face changed. It softened, her steely demeanor disappearing in an instant. She slotted the thorn back into its little holster, and, for the first time, spoke directly to me. "Child...You are different. You have, like Jakesully, a strong heart. However, you have fear, you have longing. You have loneliness. If you pass the test of Eywa, you will be a valuable member of the Omaticaya. If I am correct, you can See that which all others cannot."

I opened my mouth, but was unable to speak, as Mo'at gave out a sharp "Jake! Neytiri!"

I turned around to see a sheepish-looking Jake and a Neytiri who was blushing purple. I didn't know what they were doing, nor did I wish to, but Mo'at clearly didn't care about that. "The two of you can have all the fun you want-later! Neytiri, can you take Tanhita'em to the Tree of Souls by Pa'li? Jake seems to think she did not enjoy her flight."

Neytiri nodded, motioning to me. I followed her, wondering what Mo'at had meant about what I could See. Neytiri had pulled me up in front of her gigantic body onto the Pa'li when Mo'at called out again. "Neytiri, try to find your son. He was with a hunting party today, so he is unaware of the present climate."

Neytiri nodded, speaking to me as the Pa'li began to move forward. "My son, Atan, is eighteen human years old. He is not easy to find, but I would ask you to look for him."

"How will I know him from other males?"

Neytiri smiled slightly. "His hair is not in the traditional style. He refused to have it cut, and it is shaggy and falls over his eyes. Also, he is white."

"White? He's white? Are his eyes red and his hair golden?" I was confused.

"Yes. Normspellman called him 'al-bee-no' when he was born."

"Albino? Why isn't he easy to find?"

"He disappears quicker than atokirina when he wishes to."

I had figured something of the sort. The fact that he was alive at all was a testament to his skill. The Pa'li began to run, and I found myself enjoying the feel of its six powerful legs thwudding onto the ground. Each pounding hoof felt like a great drum, thunderous and powerful. I kept looking around me, gigantic bushes and trees whipping by. All of a sudden, I saw a flash of pure snow white. "Neytiri! The left, running fast!"

Neytiri began to yell. "Atan! I know you're out there! Head to the Tree of Souls, my son!"

The white flash sped up, getting in front of us. I saw a Pa'li's gleaming hide, purplish green. Then, riding the Pa'li, a white back. Skin that should have been a cobalt blue was a whited-out sky color, stripes that should have been a dark navy were a washed-out gold. The hair flying back, and the braid connected to the Pa'li, was burnished yellow but glowing like gold. Even the fur on the end of the young male's tail was pale gold. I knew that here was an extremely strong young hunter, and that he was probably treated like a special, holy object. His arrows were even fletched in alternating white and gold feathers. He was faster than us, probably because Neytiri didn't want to frighten me. At any rate, we reached the Tree of Souls within fifteen minutes. The Pa'li her son had been riding was slurping nectar from a plant, its rider already gone. As Neytiri lifted me off the Pa'li, I gaped in wonder at the enormous tee before us. Over a hundred Na'vi were there, braids already connected to Eywa. I saw a single white back, in about the third row, waiting. My attention snapped to Mo'at, standing on a sort of natural platform, with my avatar body, now clothed as one of the Na'vi, at her feet. Neytiri carried me right up to her, plopping me gently onto the ground next to my avatar. Mo'at began to sing, and I was no longer aware of everything around me, just the consciousness inside the tree.

I fell through a tunnel of light, landing on sand. I stood quickly, noticing that I was still a human. A brook gurgled nearby, and I looked at it carefully before stooping over it, gazing at the face in the water. My human face. Gray, tired-looking eyes, far too old for even a fifty-year old. Pale pinkish skin, like a peach. The brown hair, long and somewhat unkempt. The reflection looked back at me and smiled, though I knew my face hadn't moved. The reflection changed, changed into a Na'vi. But it was wrong. The eyes of the Na'vi were not amber or brown, they were clouded, dark gray, and there appeared to be rings of black all throughout them. They were cold and merciless, and what had been a sweet smile transformed into a bone-chilling snarl, bared fangs clarly visibe. Worst of all, the reflection of the Na'vi expanded, until I could see that the Na'vi was clad in a blackened, blood-covered armored outfit, holding a gun that was tiny, but clearly lethal. Even its tail was armored, interlocking plates shifting like scales. I saw the smoldering remains of a gray, once-bustling city, but I couldn't tell if it was on Earth or not. I jerked back, shocked, and fell onto another human's legs.

"Aah!"

I looked up. The face above me was one I'd seen only in pictures. Red hair and a steely expression, it was Grace Augustine. Her somewhat disapproving expression made me begin to panic. I figured that I wasn't going to become a Na'vi, judging by the way Dr. Augustine was staring at me. I stood up quickly, my five-foot human frame tiny, even against her five-foot-nine-inch body in sneakers. As I stood there waiting, I couldn't help but think that Grace was undeniably the most amazing person I'd ever seen or heard about. She walked around me, looking everywhere except my eyes. When she was in front of me again, she looked right at me. Her light brown, undeniably human eyes looked through my iron gray ones. Her brow furrowed, then relaxed.

"So you want to become a Na'vi, do you?"

I blinked. Her voice sounded like my mothers. I stuttered at her. "I-i-y-I... I, uh, yeah, I mean yes!"

She smiled then. "Well, Tanhi, looks like you're lucky. Apparantly, you should have been born Na'vi."

She tooka drag on a cigarette she was holding, but it disappeared. She said "Alright already, jeez" under her breath, then looked at me again.

"What did you see in the water?"

I opened my mouth, trying to explain, but Grace shook her head. "Never mind. You should get going now, but you should know now that if you ever try to tame an ikran, it won't turn out like it should."

I felt myself being dragged away. Grace continued, saying, "Just remember, Tanhi-flight ain't everything. Oh, and tell Jake from me that he's a jarhead."

Sara Mason belongs to Sapphire-Raindrop, author of The Avatar Chronicles: To Truly See. Thanks for permission, hope this was okay!