It was late in the morning when news of Tsu'tay's condition reached us. Niterie and I were seeing to things throughout the clan Anna was

always close by so I could keep an eye her and so that she had the comfort she so desperately needed. At midafternoon a healer found me

and took me aside and once we were far enough away she said "Tsu'tay is stable but he is not responding to the treatments we think the

reason is he has another bullet inside of him but we can not find it. He will not survive long unless we find that bullet and if we do not find it

soon he will die." "Give me a moment to let Niterie know the situation then I will come and help the in any way I can." the female healer

nodded and said she would wait for me I walked over to Niterie and pulled her aside so that Anna would not hear "Tsu'tay is in bad condition,

he has another bullet somewhere in those wounds I think it is the one that is infected. I am going to do all I can to save him but if I fail I will

need to your help to explain to Anna and our clan how our finest warrior had died. I just hope I do not fail." Niterie put her hand in mine and

said "I am sure you will do fine ma Jake." I looked at her for a moment then asked her "Niterie will you please keep this from Anna for now I

do not want her distressed until I know for sure what is going to happen to Tsu'tay if his death is inevitable then I will tell her so that she can

so goodbye." Niterie nodded and told me she would. I turned and followed the healer to where Tsu'tay was, when I got there Tsu'tay was

awake but his breathing was shallow. I keeled down beside him I lifted the bandage and saw how bad the wound was. The other bullet

wounds had healed enough that they would be of no threat that confirmed my suspicion that the last bullet was still in the wound, and the

wound had gotten bigger in size. I recovered the wound for a moment and looked Tsu'tay in the eye as he grabbed my shoulder and said

"Jake, you must take care of Anna. I know I have little chance of survival probably none at all please promise me you will look after her." I

grasped his shoulder as well and said "If you die I promise I will. You better not give up on me, her, or the Omanticia clan you fight to stay

alive, don't you give up yet not until I tell you you can give up do you understand me Tsu'tay. The reason your wound has become infected

is because you still have a bullet in that wound that I did not know about but I know where it is now and I will get it out but you have to

promise me you will keep fighting for all our sakes." He nodded but was too weak speak or keep his arm up to grasp my shoulder he said

through clenched teeth "Just do it brother if I survive I have much to tell you." "And I you brother." without another word I set to work to

find the last bullet that I had missed. When I did I knew the reason I had not found it before it was imbedded deep in his lower right rib. I

used my knife to dig the bullet out of Tsu'tay's rib without breaking the rib itself. Finally the bullet fell into my hand it was one of the bullets

from a semi-automatic gun probably pull on Tsu'tay once he had batted the other gun aside. I was handed a knew bandage by Mo'at and I

wrapped Tsu'tay's wound. I hoped that the herbs and poultices would help him because I had done all I could do he was in the hands of

Eywa now but at least now the wound would have chance of healing. "Tsu'tay, brother just rest now and remember you promise to not quite

fighting." I got to my feet but before I left I looked at a female healer who I recently learned her name and said "Tsu'lan please inform me if

anything on Tsu'tay's condition changes whether for better or for worse. If he asks for me find me immediately." "Yes Olo'aktan I will."

Tsu'lan promised I dipped my head to her and left.


Third person prov.

A few day's passed but Tsu'tay's condition stayed the same which had Jake worried but then Tsu'tay's condition started to improve. Within a

week Tsu'tay's wound was almost closed soon he would be up and walking around. Jake had found Anna one night after finishing his rounds

to check on the two remaining clans that resided with them and the Omanticia clan which had become a habit for him since the first night

after his transfer. Jake thought to himself "I have been mentally drained in the past but never as bad as this. I have never had so much

worry or responsibility put on me before and though I am glad for the challenge I never knew it could be this draining." Anna had been

staying close to were Niterie and Jake had been sleeping but far enough away to give Niterie and Jake some privacy. Jake saw Niterie was

with Anna and they were giggling like two school girls which perked his interest. When Jake got close enough he caught the last word of

Niterie's sentence which was the word "Baby." Jake walked up to them and asked "What is this about a baby?" Niterie blushed while Anna

was grinning like a Cheshire cat all Niterie would say was she would tell Jake later and when he asked Anna she refused to say.


Jake's Prov.

I talked to Anna for almost an hour until she said that she was tired. I bid my sister goodnight then went to Niterie who looked so happy at

something as she sat on the ground I sat next to her I noticed she smelled a little different like a bit of a spice had been added to her skin I

asked "Niterie what you hiding from me I have noticed changes about you today one your skin has a spice smell to it, you cannot stop

smiling even when you are around the clans and when you are around them you usually try to keep a straight face, your saying words like

baby. What is going on that has you so happy?" Niterie blushed she could not look me in the eye when she told me what had her so happy

"Ma Jake I did not want to tell you till I was sure but I talked to mother and she confirmed it." she paused I knew she was beating around he

bush so I said throwing up my hands "Niterie stop trying to avoid it tell me what is going on you are driving me crazy." When she looked at

me I saw a glow in her eyes I had only seen once and that was the night we had become a mated pair as she said "Jake I am pregnant, we

are going to have baby." I was so stunned for a moment all I could do was blink like a Skyawng until my I regained control of my mouth and

unresponsive limbs I laughed and asked "Niterie are you sure, truly sure?" she nodded I smiled widely as I said disbelievingly "I am going to

be a father this is amazing I can barely believe it." I embraced Niterie and kissed her passionately I could not contain my joy. It had been

two weeks since the sky people had been defeated and almost a three weeks since Niterie and I had mated and we had had a few intimate

times during that three weeks so I can understand how Niterie could be pregnant it just shocked me to my core and filled me with such

immense joy at the same time. Niterie had never told me how long it took for a Navi child to be at full term so I decided to ask Niterie

answered "The pregnancy time for a Navi woman is about four months." my eyes got about as big as saucers at how short a Navi woman's

pregnancy was compared to a human woman's it made me happy I would not have to wait long before I had a son or daughter who knows

maybe it will even be twins, oh twins now that would be a handful considering the fact that they would be a mix of Niterie and myself the

thought of it made my head spin one child would be a bit hard but twins would be a pain and if the were anything like Tommy and I were oh

that would be hectic I would be running after them all day. I had not slept much in the last few days since Tsu'tay had fallen into worse

condition but now that he was on the mend and my blissful mood on the thought of having a baby I slept soundly that night with Niterie in

my arms. Before I fell asleep I promised myself that I would find a new Hometree for the clan before my child was born so I would return to

Hells Gate tomorrow to start my search and I hoped that Niterie would come with me so that it would make it easier to narrow down the

things that the new Hometree would need and the surrounding landscape.