Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. For those who asked if this is (or could be) Jake x Tsu'tey, this is intended as just a friendship fic. I'm not much for writing romances of any kind. However, feel free to read in whatever subtext you'd like.

//speech//=Na'vi

Neytiri slammed the door behind her with a bang and snarled up at Tsu'tey before shoving past him with enough force that it nearly sent him to the floor. He was too startled to respond, and as he resettled his crutch under his arm, he found himself wondering what he might have done to offend her so. The last time they'd spoken, she'd left on pleasant enough terms. He stared after her for several minutes, unable to come up with any likely explanations, and then shook himself and tapped lightly on the door. "Hello? Jakesully?"

"Tsu'tey? Come on in."

His smile of greeting as Tsu'tey stepped inside seemed real enough, but although Tsu'tey wasn't particularly well-versed in Sky Person facial expressions, he looked oddly tired. Tsu'tey wondered if he'd been damaged more severely in the encounter with the Titanothere than he'd indicated.

He was sitting on the same cot he'd been on last night, a small machine resting on his lap, but he set it aside almost immediately at Tsu'tey's entrance and gestured at the spare cot. "You know, you're going to end up with one hell of a crick in your neck wandering around in here."

Tsu'tey hissed at him and took a seat. He—and the muscles in his neck and back—were already well aware of that fact.

"And it's just Jake, by the way. Meant to tell you that before, but there was never exactly a good time."

"What?"

"My name. It's…people where I'm from usually introduce themselves with both a personal name and a family name. For me, personal name Jake, family name Sully. But after the introduction part we tend to drop the family name, so it's just Jake."

That explained the shortened version of his name that almost everyone else seemed to use, anyway, and Tsu'tey nodded slightly. "Why did none of the other Dreamwalkers introduce themselves in this way?" Granted that he hadn't talked to very many of them personally, but as he recalled, the few that he had spoken to had all managed to introduce themselves properly.

"Probably because they all managed at least Na'vi 101 before they actually met any Na'vi. I managed 'hey, they're blue and have tails.'"

Tsu'tey stared.

Jakesully—Jake—grinned and shook his head. "Unlike the rest of the Avatar drivers, I didn't really have any idea what I was doing when I met you guys. They'd all had some training, I…hadn't. So I just did what I'd have done back on Earth. Which wasn't right for Pandora, but I figured it had to be better than standing there staring like an idiot."

"About the same."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

Tsu'tey grinned and was tempted to press—or at least harass—him further about his lack of knowledge of the Na'vi, but he had more important things to ask about. "Why is Neytiri angry?"

"You ran into her?"

"She nearly ran over me."

Jake winced. "Sorry. Uh, let's just say it's a bad day. A really bad day." He paused. "Well, a really bad day and Norm being an idiot. I told him to keep his mouth shut about the whole Titanothere mess."

Tsu'tey cocked his head. Allowing himself to become too distracted to pay attention to his surroundings outside the Sky Person buildings had been a stupid thing to do, certainly, but he didn't think that it warranted that much irritation. It was far from the first stupid thing that Jake had ever done, after all. "That is what made her so angry?"

He shook his head, looking away. "No, but hearing about it made me a convenient target for blowing off some anger. It's…Arden's not doing so well. Not well at all, actually."

Tsu'tey frowned. "You have the wrong name. Arden is a child." Intelligent and quick, he'd be starting to truly train as a hunter in two or three years, but for now he spent his days with the other children playing and learning.

"Yeah, I know he's a kid." Jake looked back at Tsu'tey, and the tiredness in his expression was suddenly much more pronounced. "You remember I told you about the children who were hurt when Hometree was destroyed being brought here for treatment?" He waited for Tsu'tey's nod. "Well, Arden was one of them; the worst injured of the lot. As far as anyone can tell, he tried to shield his brother with his body when a burning limb came down on top of them. And it looks like Sa'tai will make it, although from what I understood they're going to keep him in the tank for a little while longer, but Arden's been getting weaker and weaker. Guess the docs decided yesterday afternoon that there was no more that anyone could do for him here. I just heard about it when Neytiri stopped by to tell me they were going to take him back to Hometree." He shrugged slightly. "And to yell."

It was Tsu'tey's turn to look away, his jaw tightening. He had not been told this, and as the clan leader, he should have been. But then, healers were notoriously reluctant to give patients information that would upset them, especially when no action the patient took could have any effect, so he perhaps he shouldn't be surprised that they'd not mentioned it. And he'd spent all of his time at the radio last night discussing the living situation at the new Hometree with two of his warriors who'd been taught to use the thing…they'd been concerned with keeping the people fed and protected and may not even have known about one injured child who wasn't even with them at the moment. His eyes snapped back to Jake's. "They are still here? The healers? Arden?"

"Maybe. Neytiri said they were in kind of a hurry to get him back, but they were taking some time to make sure that the painkillers had taken hold first. At least as much as they can. With burn victims…." Jake made a gesture of helplessness that Tsu'tey understood, even if he didn't like it.

"I wish to see them."

"Yeah, sure. If they're still here, they'll be in the lab. And, uh, if the docs ask, I totally forgot that I was supposed to wait for their okay to leave my room."

Despite his desire to reach this lab quickly, Tsu'tey couldn't help but be distracted as he watched Jake drag himself to the edge of his cot and then lower himself into the wheeled chair using only his arms. It was strange enough to see him wheeling himself about as he moved from room to room, but the way that he moved his legs, using his arms to lift them onto pads attached to the wheeled chair as though they didn't even belong to him, seemed almost unreal.

Jake's eyes met Tsu'tey's evenly once he was seated, the faintest hint of challenge in his expression, but when Tsu'tey didn't say anything, he swiveled the chair and began to wheel himself towards the door. "Come on, it's on the next level. The scientists did something to adapt the tanks they grew our Avatars in to use to help heal the kids and keep them pretty much pain-free while they were doing it."

"Tanks?"

"Kind of like big water containers, except it's not really water inside them."

Tsu'tey stared, and he shrugged.

"It's hard to explain. You'll see when we get there. But the elevator is going to be a little uncomfortable for you, I'm afraid. I know Neytiri absolutely hates it, and she can fold herself a lot smaller than you can at the moment."

"This entire place is uncomfortable," Tsu'tey returned. "I will survive."

He regretted his words soon after as they wedged themselves into a small metal box that made Jake's room—which he still thought was uncomfortably small—seem almost large by comparison. He had to both twist and bend to fit inside, balancing awkwardly against his crutch and one of the handles of Jake's chair to keep his injured led straight. "What does forcing ourselves into this room do?"

"It's an elevator. It lifts us up to the next level. There's a freight elevator that would be a little more comfortable, but it's at the other end of the building, and it has a few…issues."

"Can we not climb?" Or could he at least climb—two arms and one good leg were perfectly sufficient—and Jake could get up there however he chose?

"Human—Sky People—buildings aren't really set up for that. I'm sure there are some access panels in the ceiling somewhere, but I wouldn't even know where to start looking for them. Watch your tail."

Tsu'tey hissed and pulled his tail inside as the metal doors closed, making the box seem even smaller, and his hands tightened on his crutch and the handle of Jake's wheeled chair. And then they clenched tighter still as the room began to move. He did not like this.

"And here we are."

The doors didn't open nearly soon enough to suit him, and when he was finally able to step out into another corridor, he welcomed it. The ceiling was still low—although not quite as absurdly low as it was on the previous level—but at least here he could turn around.

"This way."

He followed Jake down the corridor a short distance and then into a large room filled with glowing…things. Small glowing things, large glowing things, things with abrupt edges and patterns that he'd never seen before. And these were not natural things, natural things he understood. These were…he didn't even know what they were.

"Don't touch," Jake warned quietly. "Scientists get irritated when you touch."

Tsu'tey shook his head minutely. That was not going to be an issue. He wanted nothing to do with anything around him. A snatch of Na'vi caught his ears, and he realized abruptly that he could fully straighten in here.

"Around there." Jake indicated the direction the voices had come from.

For a moment Tsu'tey wondered why Jake didn't continue with him, but then he caught sight of several children floating in clear…containers…of some form, and words deserted him. Bad enough the tubes that ran into their small bodies, not so different than the tubes that been attached to him up until recently, but the sight of the burns that littered their skin, going deeper than their skin in many cases…. He didn't know whether to snarl or be sick.

When he and most of the rest of the clan's warriors had faced the Sky People at Hometree, those who had been too old to fight had taken those who were too young into hiding, deep within the structure. But when he and his warriors had failed to stop the attack and Hometree had burned, the non-fighters had found themselves at the heart of an inferno. They had all managed to escape, going out the opposite way that the Sky People machines had come in, but there had been many injuries among them. He'd known that at the time, but the only actual deaths had been among the warriors—those whose duty it was to risk themselves—and there had been another battle to plan, clans to gather…. This was the first time that he'd actually seen the damage done to the children for himself.

He fought down a wave of illness as he stepped closer to the nearest container. Tank. Before, when he'd heard 'injuries,' his mind had immediately assigned the sorts of childhood injuries that he was accustomed to: a gash from a sharp rock, a bone broken in a bad fall, an accidental burn from a fire-flare. Painful and unpleasant, but rarely life-threatening. But what he was seeing weren't normal injuries, and from what little he knew of burns, it looked as though death would almost be a kindness.

He shook his head, unable to tear his eyes away. It was not a gentle world he lived in. He knew that. Eywa maintained the balance, but for an individual there was always danger. But those dangers were for adults to face; children were sheltered as best a clan could manage. Sheltered and protected. That did not prevent all injury, or even all death, of course; accidents still happened. And although they returned to Eywa, it was always a sad occurrence when a young one didn't have as much time in the world as they should have had. But while a death from an accident was...understandable...if still sorrowful, what had been done to these children had not been an accident.

A sob caught his ears, and he forced his eyes away from the tanks and continued forward, along the path lined by Sky Person things. Circling around the fourth tank, the one furthest from the door, he found Neytiri, his mother, an unfamiliar healer—Horse Clan, judging by his clothing, but no one that Tsu'tey recognized—and a Sky Person female standing beside Allei. Presumably the Sky Person was a healer of some form, but Tsu'tey's attention went immediately to Allei, who was holding her son in her arms.

He couldn't help but flinch slightly at the sight of Arden. He was not a healer, but even he could see that the child did not have much longer in this world. And unlike the ones in the tanks, he was in obvious pain. His continuous whimpers were barely audible, but Tsu'tey suspected that that was due only to his weakness. //You return him to Hometree?// he asked.

//He will join Eywa among his people,// his mother answered, showing no surprise at his sudden presence, although both Neytiri and the Horse Clan healer started in surprise.

Allei didn't even seem to see him, although she sobbed a bit louder at his mother's words, and Neytiri's surprised look was replaced with a glare as she put an arm around Allei's shoulders.

The Horse Clan healer bowed slightly. //Apologies, Ole'eyktan, but it would be best if we left quickly. There is still more pain than I had hoped, but…// He flicked his eyes towards the child, and Tsu'tey could see his worry.

//Of course.// He stepped back, allowing them to pass him. The reasoning for haste was obvious; if they didn't hurry, the boy would probably not survive the trip. As it was, he feared that they might have left it until too late. He would have—should have, he knew—offered Allei something, at least a word of comfort, but no words came to him, and, in truth, he doubted that she'd have heard him anyway.

//Do you need any assistance getting back to your room?// the female Sky Person asked, pausing as she passed him.

//No.// He was fairly certain that Jake was still around somewhere, but even if he wasn't, Tsu'tey had no wish to go anywhere right now. Of course, he had no real wish to stay here either, but….

The Sky Person seemed to take his word, though, hurrying to catch up with the other healers and leaving him standing in the quiet room, the only sounds around him being the beeping of the machines.

For a moment he remained where he was, leaning against his crutch, unsure what to do, and then a flicker of light caught his attention. He moved towards it, and found Jake sitting by one of the tanks. The one containing only a single child. "What are you doing?"

"They aren't asleep," Jake said quietly. "Not really. Just…kind of out of it. There's some stuff in the liquid that helps numbs their skin, but even so, it's better that they aren't fully awake." He pressed something against the side of the tank beside him, and shafts of light once again reflected up through the liquid. "It makes them smile, sometimes."

Tsu'tey indicated the child. "That's Sa'tai." He had probably once shared this tank with his brother. It explained why he was alone in it now.

"I know. I don't think he knows that his brother is gone yet." Jake did something to the object in his hand, and the lights changed color. "I guess it's just as well…there's enough pain right now without adding that too."

"What would you know about losing a brother to death?" Tsu'tey hissed, sorrow at Arden's impending death suddenly changing to rage as he found a suitable target. If the Sky People hadn't come—if the Sky People hadn't attacked—Arden and the other children here would still be playing happily beneath the branches of Hometree. His hands clenched, one into a fist and one into a crushing grip on his crutch. "You abandoned your family to come here." Grace had told them about the six Sky Person years—a Sky Person year being not greatly different than a Pandoran year, if he remembered correctly—it took to get here from their home planet. "If you hadn't come, none of this would have happened!"

Jake spun in his wheelchair, and Tsu'tey wondered for an instant if this stupid, broken Sky Person was actually going to attack him, but instead he rolled himself backwards with a single hard push, letting the shining object fall to the floor. "I'm here because my brother is dead, jackass. And as for the rest of it—do you think I don't know that?"