"Jake!" Neytiri hailed her mate from across the vast open space under New Hometree.
The Olo'eyktan turned at the familiar sound and smiled at seeing her approach. Even six months pregnant with their second child, she was more beautiful to him every day.
He held out his hands to her as she neared him, "Oel ngati kameie oe-yä tìmunxta," he said fondly as he took her into his arms and hugged her gently.
Neytiri's return smile was full of contentment as she returned her mate's embrace, "oel ngati kameie. I am glad I found you so quickly. Ti'ren would like to speak with you."
Jake was startled, "Ti'ren? The old woman that your mother's been with for the past few days?"
She nodded, "Mother says that her spirit will return to Eywa very soon. Ti'ren is happy to be returning to the All Mother, but she wishes to speak to you before she leaves."
The marine's puzzlement was plain. There were very few truly elderly Na'vi left to the Omatikaya. Most had been lost when Old Hometree had been destroyed; others hadn't been able to withstand the rigors of the journey to the Tree of Souls. It was an imbalance that Jake had started to become aware of after An'ts'it had been born. He and Neytiri had been so relieved at Mo'at's joy in her grandson that he'd started looking around at other grandchildren and their grandparents, and only then realized how few oldsters were left.
The old ones were always surrounded by their clanmates. Children flocked around them as a matter of course, eagerly fetching water or fruit in exchange for story telling. Jake had more than once seen groups of a dozen or more children gathered around the elders in rapt fascination for hours as they took it in turn to tell tales to a new generation. Hunters and craftsmen were always seeking the old ones out for advice and assistance. Elders were a valuable and valued resource to the clan, and were cherished accordingly by all.
Still, Jake wondered as he obediently followed his mate. I've been here over three years now, but I doubt I've seen Ti'ren a dozen times, and never to speak to personally. What in the world can she have to say to me now if she's about to die?
Neytiri brought him to one of the sleeping-spaces closest to the ground level in the Tree and indicated that he should precede her. He turned in to the niche and automatically ducked his head a bit in respect when he saw his mother-in-law. Mo'at nodded and moved aside a bit so that Jake could see past her.
A man a few years younger than Jake was sitting next to one of the oldest Na'vi the marine had ever seen. He reached out to gently touch the shoulder of the old woman, "Ma'sa'nok, the Olo'eyktan has come as you asked."
The dozing elder opened her eyes and saw the marine sitting in front of her. To Jake's astonishment the woman was instantly filled with joy so powerful on seeing him that it seemed impossible her frail frame could withstand it. She reached out for him with both hands and Jake quickly changed places with her son so that he could clasp them to spare her unnecessary exertion.
"Oel ngati kameie, Ti'ren, I was told that you wished to speak with me?" he expressed his puzzlement in the question.
The woman beamed, "Oel ngati kameie, Olo'eyktan, kaltxi, I am so happy that you have come. Please, sit with me for a while so that we can speak."
Jake settled himself comfortably, "How can I help you, Ti'ren?"
She patted his hand happily, "You already have. I only wished to be able to thank you in person for all that you have done for me and mine before I return to the All Mother."
He was even more puzzled, "What did I do?"
A great smile lit her face as she took in his consternation and she replied softly, "You saved all of us." She indicated her son, "When we were at Old Hometree and you warned us that the tawtute were coming and that we should flee to the forest, my son heeded your words. He immediately put me and my granddaughter on a pa'li and took us and his mate to his favorite hunting-camp." Her voice became momentarily sad, "We saw Old Hometree fall. But we were far enough away that we were not harmed. Because he listened to you, we had transport and enough provisions to make the journey to the Tree of Souls safely."
Jake looked at the younger man in astonishment; he hadn't been aware that anyone had listened to him, much less been able to escape the destruction because of him. The hunter nodded respectfully while his mother's voice returned to its former happiness.
"You saved us when the tawtute destroyed Old Hometree, and again when they tried to attack Vitraya Ramunong. You found New Hometree for us. You saved us from two more tawtute ships, and you will save the clan again when the last two come," she said with absolute certainty.
Jake squirmed a bit while the woman gestured to the side. A young girl of about seven years old quickly came to her grandmother and gladly snuggled up against her. Ti'ren said with great contentment, "Because of you, my son and granddaughter are alive and safe, and they have a new home. My granddaughter will grow up and be happy, and one day she will have children of her own, and they will remember me. I will watch them from within Eywa and be very happy for them." She smiled when the girl nodded emphatically.
The marine was both astonished and puzzled at the absolute absence of fear and blurted, "You aren't … afraid of dying?"
Ti'ren chuckled, "My mate Aren'to went to Eywa many years ago. I have missed him for a very long time, but in the past couple of days I have begun to hear his whispers. He is full of joy because he knows I will soon come home to him, and I am just as eager to be in his arms again."
Jake looked briefly at Mo'at. The Tsahik nodded confirmation of the dying woman's words.
Ti'ren hugged her granddaughter and continued happily, "I have passed on my weaving-patterns," she touched a small snowflake-looking design on the girl's arm band, "and when my children, and grandchildren, and great-granchildren see them, I will be remembered. When the new Tree of Voices is found, they will make tsaheylu with it and they will hear me laughing with their grandfather." For a moment the old woman's eyes gleamed roguishly and she indicated the Olo'eyktan's pregnant mate with a grin, "Or perhaps they will hear me doing something else with their grandfather, eh?"
Jake burst into laughter, startled and even a little bit embarassed. He liked Ti'ren.
The old woman's voice returned to its earlier tone of satisfaction. "With my own eyes I have seen the greatest disaster to have ever befallen the Na'vi – and I have seen Eywa's triumph over it." She looked at Jake's pregnant mate once more, "Already the Omatikaya grow strong again, and they will continue to do so." Her gaze went back to the Olo'eyktan, "I am truly blessed that Eywa has permitted me to live to see such an amazing story." She spoke with wonder in her voice, "Not only the story of a Toruk Macto, but the only uniltirantokx Toruk Macto that the Na'vi have ever seen. Irayo, Toruk Macto. Irayo."
She clasped his hands a bit tighter with the strength she had left, and he instinctively leaned forward to hug her gently for a few moments, "Irayo, ma'tsmuke," he replied in a roughened voice.
Ti'ren leaned back against her leather-stuffed cushion in contentment and let go of Jake's hands. "When it is your time to go home to Eywa I will meet you and show you around – assuming Neytiri does not meet you first," she grinned and winked at the Olo'eyktan. "I warn you, I will be telling tales of you to everyone, and you had better live up to them!"
Jake grinned and chuckled softly, "I'll look forward to it," he assured her.
The old woman closed her eyes and flipped a hand in dismissal, "Off with you, then. Don't you have anything better to do in the middle of the day than to listen to an old woman? You youngsters are all so lazy, what is the world coming to? Go hunt or fish, make yourself useful, and let me rest, eh?"
The Olo'eyktan chuckled again and touched Ti'ren's arm briefly in a fond gesture of farewell and took his leave.
Neytiri was late for dinner that evening. Jake waited for her patiently, chatting quietly with his clansmen to pass the time. When she finally showed up in the entrance to the eating-space, one look at the expression on her face told him everything.
His mate came over to him for a long and heartfelt hug. She looked him in the eyes when he released her, "It happened a little while ago," she informed him quietly. "Thank you for speaking with her, she was very happy when she left." He couldn't say anything, and enfolded her in his arms. They stood there for a few minutes in silence.
The burial was the next morning. The whole clan assembled and listened quietly and respectfully as Mo'at performed the service. Jake looked around at the clan – his clan. The thought came to him that Ti'ren had worked for the Omatikaya for so many years that it was practically guaranteed that every single person in the clan had worn something that had passed through her hands at some point. They aren't here to give lip service to an acquaintance, or some stranger, he thought. Every single person here has been touched by her in some way. Every one of us touches the others, and is touched by the others in return. We all depend on each other, in great ways and small – and they know it. That's why everyone is here.
He stayed in the background, waiting patiently while those who wished to left small tokens in the grave. When nearly everyone was gone he came forward and looked down at Ti'ren's curled-up body. She was still smiling, one hand open before her as if she were extending it joyfully to meet someone else's grasp.
Jake carefully laid down on his belly and reached down into the grave with one arm. When it was in the right position, he opened his gently clasped fingers. A button that he had pulled off of one of his old human shirts fell perfectly into the open palm. He could almost feel the old woman's smile.
He got up and brushed himself off. Neytiri came to him and wrapped an arm around him. Jake smiled, returned the gesture, and said one last mental farewell to Ti'ren before walking his mate back to New Hometree.
In the blue-shrouded forest, not far from the spot where the Omatikaya respectfully began filling in the new grave, the sound of delighted laughter came softly from a small tree whose glowing tendrils waved gently in a nonexistent wind.