Chapter Ten | A Bad Memory

"Sylwanin," he said slowly, waiting for her to look at him before he said, "What is going on?"

"Well that went fantastically, didn't it?" Grace was pacing around their quarters, whilst Eytukan was sitting on the hammock, not sharing his mate's concern. He had bid her to rest her feet initially, but when he had, she'd turned and snapped at him that she wasn't yet at the stage where she had to be bound to the bed and she'd be damned if he made her start early.

He sighed, watching her walk up and down. It was giving him a headache. "Gracie, come on," he began, getting to his feet. He came over to take her shoulders, making her look at him. "That is Neytiri. She's headstrong and over-confident. That's the daughter you and I love. I'm not sure where she gets it from but that's who she is."

"I'm not fretting the fact that she didn't return last night, I'm fretting that this might be the send-off she needs to never return at all."

"Oh, Gracie – "

"No, I'm serious, Eytu." The sky was rose and gold as the sun broke over Tárontxar. She pulled away from him, moving to the side of the room. She watched the light spread from the top of Hometree, seeing the forest lose its bioluminescence and turning into a more traditional form of rainforest. Her eyes searched over the members who were already starting their day. It was unusual for her mate to not be down there with them already.

"Neytiri is a strong woman," he told her. He had nearly said 'girl'. She was no longer that. "And she's smart. I think we are giving her too little credit." He sighed, knowing that truly pertained to him. He had underestimated her, as he always did. He always had done. And he knew it was his own transgressions that caused her to react the way she did. "She has her father in her veins, that's the truth."

"Stop saying it like that."

"Like what?"

Grace looked over to her mate. She pursed her lips, wondering how to put this. The last thing she wanted was an argument, but she had to ask. "You know, ever since we found out about our baby, you've been referring to your own daughter as not your own more than you ever have before?"

He regarded her for a long moment. There was a look in his eyes she couldn't read. The way his tail turned rigid told her he was tensing to say something in retaliation, and honestly, she was waiting for it. She wanted an answer to it. They had been together over a decade. In that time, he had mentioned twice of Neytiri's questionable parentage, once counting when he had brought it up explicitly to her seven months ago. In the space of a month, he'd mentioned it over ten times. Was this the attitude he had towards his child? To abandon her when something better came along? It was a dark thought, and it sent shivers down her spine. How many times had she heard the story of people remarrying, a new child is born, and that child becomes the instant favourite? She couldn't blame Neytiri for running if she did – perhaps it was a pre-emptive move.

There came no answer. Only stillness hung in the air. She waited for an answer that wasn't coming, either because he was unaware of it, or he didn't know how to word it. She nearly turned around to tell him to forget it, when she saw movement over his shoulder. He followed her gaze, and breathed out in relief.

There she stood, in the entrance to the area, as perfect as she had been when she left. "Good morning," Neytiri greeted, folding her arms behind her back. Her tail flicked involuntarily – her mood had obviously changed. And as she glanced downwards, and murmured, "I'm sorry," it was clear she wasn't looking for another fight.

Eytukan sighed, and came forward to give her a hug. She must have been shocked by his action, as initially she didn't respond, but she gripped him back after a few moments. "Me too," he murmured to her, kissing the top of her head.

She gave him a wan smile. As they pulled away, simultaneously they both said 'I see you'. Blinking once, she cast her eyes over to Grace. The princess could see the relief on her step-mother's face, and immediately recalled what she had said the night before. She could only be thankful she hadn't actually said it out loud to her. They did the Na'vi greeting, which she instigated. Tentatively, she stepped forward, and was glad as Grace did too. They both opened their arms for a hug, each giving a nervous laugh as they embraced. "I'm sorry," she said to which she got the response of, "So am I. We haven't exactly been… open about everything."

"Well, every… marriage has its secrets, right?" Neytiri murmured, letting go of her teacher. The woman she had always wished could be a real mother to her. And now she was. She cast her eyes between the duo, and was suddenly not unfamiliar to the fact that she must have walked in on something. "I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"

The leaders looked at one another, and simultaneously said, "No."

"Actually, we were discussing something that concerns you," Grace said, gesturing for them all to sit down. At that movement, Eytukan retrieved three woven mats from the corner of the room for them to sit on. Once placed down, they all sat in a circle. "We actually had two announcements last night."

Neytiri grimaced, realising she was the reason they'd only had the one.

"And actually – I feel asinine for saying it, but your departure actually was beneficial. We need to run this by you before anyone else."

Eytukan, who until that moment had been confused by what his mate was bringing up, realised. When Grace looked at him, his daughter followed her gaze, and he knew she was leaving it up to him to explain. "It seems your aunt and uncle have gotten in contact with us. Wanting to see all of us."

At the outside, Neytiri was confused. She slowly nodded, saying a simple, "Oh." But as she looked between her father and Grace's worried faces, understanding clicked. Your aunt and uncle. Her eyes bulged for a moment and she let out a deep breath, trying to find solace by staring at the floor. "Oh."

"I want to be clear, we are not making you go," he quickly said, reaching out to take her hand. She glanced back at him.

"We wouldn't force that on you," Grace chimed in.

Neytiri slowly looked at her. She suddenly felt naked – open and exposed. She took her hand back from her father, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. She bit her lip. "So you know."

Her step-mother nodded. "Yes."

"Of course you do," she said with a sarcastic snicker. The Tsan'ten's most closely guarded secret and she knew. "I always forget the royals never have any privacy."

"Neytiri," Grace quickly jumped in, seeing Eytukan about to open his mouth to protest. She could see the princess beginning to retreat, and she had to bring her back. "It's good that I do."

"Really? Did it happen to you?"

There was silence. Neytiri's ears went down and she looked away, wondering if she'd stepped over a line within just a few heartbeats of repairing the problems. Grace looked at her mate imploringly, and he understood the silent message communicated between them. He stood up and left the room, which his daughter suddenly became anxious about. She looked back over to her step-mother.

"No, it didn't," Grace said softly in English to her. "And I'm sorry it happened to you. But believe me, I do know how it feels.

"On Earth, it was very different. And I know in the near twenty years I've been away, nothing has changed. They are still a completely patriarchal society. Your kind are not. There may be some who stray from that but the fact doesn't change that you feel alienated because you think you're the only one it ever happened to. I can safely promise you, you are not. On Earth it was taboo. It happened every day and it was something we still couldn't talk about. Here it rarely happens. But I can absolutely promise you, it does. And it's horrible and it's degrading but you know what? Look at you now, Neytiri, look where you are. Look at who you are. You're now untouchable."

And it was all she could do but look at her. Neytiri just looked at Grace, in absolute awe. She let out a gasp, and shook her head slowly. "How do you do it?" she asked softly. "I criticised you. I have not been supportive. But… I admire you. I admire..." She suddenly couldn't remember the word in English, so she finished with, "I admire your resolve." And how could she not? The Religious Leader of the Omaticaya Clan, Grace Augustine-Tsan'ten, had not had the easiest time since adopting the last name and the title she had. It was thrust upon her, ultimately. There were words said about her, incriminating words that if she properly heard them, she would never get out of bed in the morning.

"You admire mine? I admire yours." A flicker of a smile came over Grace's face, but it was fleeting. Just as she had done when Neytiri was a child, she took her four-fingered hand in her own five-fingered one, her thumb pressing down into her palm. She leaned forward, almost as if she were imparting a secret to her. "Most of life is hell. It's filled with failure and loss. People disappoint you, dreams don't work out, hearts get broken. Innocent people die. Yet the best moments of life, when everything comes together, they are few and far between. But you will never get to the next moment if you don't keep going. So that's what I do. And what you must do, too."

Twelve Years Ago

In one of the tents in Tórukä Ná'rìng, in the Zeppan clan, Neytiri gave herself to the darkness.

She'd do what she always did, and tuck the woven blankets around herself. She tightened them so much that she was almost a cocoon, but she liked to pretend she was on a boat in these times. In a boat leaving far from here. Perhaps to the North, where she heard it snowed. She would like to see snow. Or perhaps to the East, to play with the massive beasts that were said to be as friendly as common dogs. Or even better, a chance to leave this world altogether. Surely there was a place, far from where she was, where men didn't treat young girls with such hardness and cruelty. Perhaps there was a place she could go to bed and not wake up in pain.

She shivered and drew the blanket over her head. She slept, woke weeping, and slept again. When she could not sleep she lay under her blankets, shivering with an unknown emotion. She was too young. She felt so humiliated, so repulsed… At least that was how she would feel when she was a bigger girl, and looking back on the past. All she knew right now was that she was alone, and she would have given anything to receive a hug from her mother, or her sister. The latter was a better choice.

She must have somehow drifted off to sleep because the next thing she knew was that she was being awoken. She squealed and drew away from the touch, scared of the adult hand that hurt. But it was a smaller and softer. "Do not fret, it's me! It's me, sweet sister!"

Nervously, she peeked out from the blanket, and when she saw the familiar nightly glow of Sylwanin in the dark, her squeal of nervousness turned to delight, and she burst out from her hiding place. She managed to wrap her arms around her older sister's neck, and felt herself getting the hug she had wanted.

"There, there," Sylwanin murmured, kissing Neytiri's forehead softly. "I'm home, it's all right. It's all right…"

Neytiri gave a sniffle. She felt the tears coming again. "I thought you were g-gone… Forever and ever…"

"And leave you? I'd never go too far away," she promised, running a soothing hand through the little girl's hair, which caused Neytiri's eyes to well up so much she might as well have been under water.

There was a silence, before she felt her elder sister sniffing her. She pulled away, and muttered a word she knew she wasn't supposed to say, let alone know. But Sylwanin was six years older – she had more freedom. "They came for you, again? I wasn't gone for even a day!"

"They always come…"

There was the sound of Sylwanin exhaling. "Oh Neytiri, I'm so sorry! Eywa…" In the darkness, it looked like she was scratching her face. It took Neytiri a little while to understand that she was crying, which made her feel even worse. "That's it. I cannot… I cannot be here anymore."

"I'll come with you!"

"I meant to say 'we'. But I think for the first time, I'll have to go alone."

Neytiri was confused. She didn't know where her elder sister meant, but she didn't like the fact of being left behind. "Go where?"

"You weren't even born yet. But years ago, we visited another clan. Our Uncle Eytukan is the leader of it." The word 'uncle' brought nerves to Neytiri, and she told her sister so. "Something tells me he's a far better man than any of the ones we know. I'll go to him."

"And do what?"

"I… I don't know. I'll ask for his help, I can do that. He came across as the type to do anything for anyone in his power. I don't know where his clan is, but I can figure it out. And once I get there, I'll tell him all that's happened, and he'll bring you and mother over then."

"Sylwanin, you can't! You might get lost! I may never see you again! Mother will be mad…!" But that didn't scare Neytiri in the slightest. The fact of losing her sister terrified her more than the wrath of their mother. There wasn't much fight left in her any way. The weariness she felt coupled with the threat of losing her sister, the only positive in her life, terrified the child, and she burst into tears properly.

Sylwanin hushed her gently, kissing her forehead. "You will thank me, one day. I'm sure of it. I can feel it in my bones. Our lives will be changed, Neytiri, we won't have to live in fear any longer!"

"You can't go without me! You can't, you can't! Your life might become worse for doing it!"

And even in the darkness, she could figure out exactly Sylwanin's face – the steeled determination, the protection in her eyes. "For you, I will try. For us. I will be back as fast as I can, I promise."

"Sylwanin?"

"Yes, darling?"

She didn't know how to phrase it. She may be young but she was smart. If they hadn't seen him in six years, who was to say how the reunion would go. "Why would he help us?"

The man faced Eytukan with absolute power in his eyes. He looked right at his opponent, unconcerned. Around him, the warriors had formed a ring, their eyes set right on their leader and his challenger. The man gave him a smirk; he responded with just a blank look.

The man gave a sudden, almighty roar, alerting him to move effortlessly to the side so he charged with nothing to break the inevitable fall. There was a melody of laughter as the opponent fell to the floor, before getting right up again and trying the same move. Eytukan felt like he could do this all day – he found himself dodging, parrying, and blocking every move without really going on the defensive. He watched his opponent and said calmly, "Still think you can beat me?"

He got a breathless laugh in response. "With my hands tied behind my back!"

"Come and get me, then."

But on and on it went, until he saw the ring of his warriors getting bored. So on the umpteenth attempt by his opponent to attack him, he did something different: he grabbed the wrist that was thrust out to him, twisted it around, hit the elbow quickly and kicked out the back of his knee, safely drawing him to the ground. He still held onto his wrist as he said, "Well, you didn't beat me, but you hand is tied behind your back."

"I forfeit, I forfeit!"

Eytukan quickly let go, and extended a hand to help him up. They blinked at one another once before his opponent, tired and sweaty, moved back into the ring. "An excellent tip for you all," he said, speaking with the same confidence and presence that had won him the throne, "Tire out your opponent. It makes it easier." When there was some laughter, he added, "Though I must commend Ateyo on his fighting skills. Very good to go on the offensive. Always try to. Though sometimes, defensive can work."

Ateyo gave a bow of his head to consent to the advice, and the group broke up. Eytukan fell into step beside the man he had been fighting. It was only practice – there was only camaraderie between them at any other time. "You did fight well," he complimented. "You've got stamina, I'll give you that."

"Not as much as you, though!" came the raucous laugh. "I'll have to get back into proper training if I want to make second-in-command."

"Relax. You will be. You've had a lot on your mind with your new family."

"I've been mated for ten years, Eytukan. I have a ten year old son. I can assure you, that's not the reason." He sent a wry smile in his leader's direction. "See? This is why you yourself need to start a family. Children serve as constant, in-your-face time pieces. They mark what would otherwise be a relentless succession of heartbeats and seasons into something more meaningful."

"I lead over five hundred children. Is that not enough?" And while it may have come off as a joke, as Ateyo laughed and agreed as he left, it wasn't to him. Everyone was always on his back about finding a mate and settling down to have children. He didn't see the need. At 39 years of age, he found contentment in his role as olo'eyktan of the Omaticaya Clan. The current tsahík was doing her job well and they didn't need to be mated. As it was, she already had a mate – she just filled in. He liked that just fine.

As he walked alone amongst the members, seeing some building the fire in preparation for that evening, he felt happy. If anyone were to look into his eyes, they'd see that – he was. Isolated behaviour was strange amongst Na'vi, but he'd always been a little different. Yet perhaps if he were completely alone, in the forest with no one around for an extended period of time, he'd discover that his love of being self-sufficient was due to the fact he still had people around, and just relished in the idea of being alone amongst the sea of everyone else.

Besides, with every member that tried to seek him out at some stage during the day, he was never truly alone. "Eytukan!" He turned around to see Adaman walking briskly over to him. He'd always found his movements amusing, mainly for the fact his best friend was not a warrior or hunter in the slightest. One look at the way he moved – with loud, hard footsteps – told anyone around he wasn't part of the hunting party.

"Slow down, would you?" Adaman asked.

" 'Slow down'? I'm not even jogging. I can make this a race if you really want me to."

"Do not even think about it!" Finally, the head healer reached him, shaking himself off with a laugh. He touched his fingers to his forehead and extended them out to Eytukan, who did the same. He eyed the leader up and down. "Were you not just in training?"

"Yes."

"Eywa, you haven't even broken a sweat. How do you do it?" And then, a devious grin came over Adaman's face, lighting up his eyes. "Did you beat Ateyo Ranec to the dust?"

"I really cannot fathom why you find him so intolerable. I think he's one of the nicest around."

"He gives me this terrible vibe. I promise you, Tsan'ten, one day you will see it, too."

"If you say so, brother," Eytukan said, a glimmer of mirth in his eyes. He assumed that meant the conversation concerning the other member was over, but Adaman kept going, much to his displeasure.

"Just every time I go past him, he seems to just… judge me for not becoming a warrior. You know, I bet he's wishing he could find some excuse to take me on. And he's got this really awful temper, too, so you just know he's going to…" Adaman trailed off as he noticed his friend had stopped paying complete attention to his words, focusing on something behind him. He swallowed, the bravado suddenly disappearing. "Oh Eywa, he's not behind me, is he?" But when he turned around, he instead saw some commotion several paces away at the treeline. As he watched the scene, he realised it was one of the scouting parties returning early. It looked as if they had picked something up on their trail.

Eytukan quickly headed over to the group, seeing more members had come over to see what had happened. Two of his members were kneeling down on the floor, and as he came closer, he realised the reason behind it. His breath caught in his throat: Pexa, one of the scouts, was carrying a young girl.

"What happened?" he quickly asked, his penetrating voice silencing all the questions of the over members.

Pexa cast her topaz eyes up to his. "We found her near the waterfall. Out cold. We don't know anything more than that."

He knelt down now, feeling himself surrounded by what seemed to be the majority of the Omaticaya clan. No secrets were kept around here – everyone knew everything the moment it happened. He glanced over her quickly, seeing no obvious injuries. "Adaman?" he called, wanting a second and proper opinion.

In an instant, the healer was kneeling beside him, looking her over. "I think it's just exhaustion and dehydration. Either way, I cannot treat her here."

Pexa gave a blink and began to pick up the young girl, but Eytukan beat her to it, picking her up. For looking over the oval face, seeing the individual stripes that marked her, he knew exactly who she was.

"That's the best I can do for her. The rest is in Eywa's hands," Adaman said. He had missed dinner for trying to revive her, to no avail. She was still breathing. He assumed she just needed some more rest. Both he and his friend watched the subtle breathing, as if needing proof she was still alive. He pulled away to give his diagnosis to Eytukan. "But I was right. Severe dehydration, over-exhaustion. I wonder where she came from."

Eytukan didn't so much as glance in his direction as he said, "The Zeppan clan."

"How do you know that?"

He realised he'd said too much, and now he couldn't get out of it. He had felt like it was necessary to keep her identity to himself until he talked to her, but now he had no choice. "That's Sylwanin."

A multitude of expressions ran over Adaman's face: from shock to disbelief to uncertainty. He gave a snort of laughter. "I really doubt that – "

"It is, I can promise you that."

"Goodness," he said, his face settling on shock now. He turned back to his patient, breathing out slowly. "You're far from home. What are you doing here?"

"My question is, what is she doing alone?" Eytukan added. He felt a strange tightening in his chest as he looked over her. She had grown since he last saw her but she still looked so small and fragile. How old was she now? Twelve? He bit his lip and then said, "Adaman, go get some dinner. I'll sit with her."

Initially Adaman looked wary, but he had to concede to the leader's request, so he turned and left. Once he was gone, Eytukan sat on the floor of the medical centre, and prepared himself to be sitting there for a long time. His heart beat fast, every pulse filled with concern. 'What are you doing here?' he could only wonder, and pray that she'd awake to answer.

As he predicted, he sat for a long while. Adaman came with a bowl of soup for him, but he was far too worked up to even touch it. He told his friend to get some rest, and when he began to protest, Eytukan pointed out that he needed to be well-rested in order to properly look after her when she woke. It was only around dawn when her eyes began to flutter, and she looked directly at him.

She was obviously bewildered for several moments, but as he became less of a mirage and something that was staying, she seemed to relax. She smacked her dry lips together and murmured throatily, "Is it really you?"

He breathed out in relief, and blinked once at her. "Yes."

A soft smile came over her face. She was still dazed and drowsy, her eyelids still heavy from over sleeping. He came closer to the hammock she lay in, kneeling beside her so they were directly at eye-level. "I found you then?" she whispered.

He returned the smile. "No, we found you," he murmured. As she blinked more rapidly, and slowly tried to sit up, he quickly moved his hand to give her some support as the hammock swayed under her. "How do you feel? I should go get Adaman."

"No, wait – " She put her arm out to grab his own weakly as he began to stand, and he moved back down to his previous position. "I came to find you. I need to talk to you."

He frowned, wondering what she meant by that. A whole sordid situation dawned upon him. "Your mother – "

"She's fine. Well, as fine as one could be, I guess…" He looked at her, completely puzzled as she drifted off. She got lost back in her thoughts, and she seemed to close her eyes as if to fall back to sleep, so he gently shook her arm. Her eyes flashed open again. "Sorry I feel…"

"It's all right," he whispered, hushing her gently. "What's wrong, little foot?"

The smile came back to her features. "I forgot you called me that…"

He smiled back at her, taking her soft hand into his calloused one. "What's going on?"

She wet her lips, looking away from him now and focusing at a spot in front of her. She didn't actually appear to see anything in front of her. "I don't know where to begin," she said after several moments of silence. He realised that there were tears collecting in her eyes.

"Well," he began hesitantly, "Isn't that the best place? The beginning?" She looked back to him, her eyes wet with unshed tears. He squeezed her hand softly. "What's happening, Sylwanin?"

Suddenly, she began to shiver, and at first he thought she felt cold, but then she swung her legs over the side of the hammock, and tried to rise unsteadily to her feet. "Whoa, hold on - !" he began, trying to ease her back down by putting his hands on her shoulders, but she suddenly screamed as if she were being hit with a hot iron. He put his hands up and stood up to edge away from her as she got to her feet, wobbly like a newborn foal.

"I shouldn't have come… Neytiri was right, I never should have come here!" she cried.

'Neytiri?' he wondered to himself, but she tried to run past him, her legs tottering which made it easy for him to grab her arm to steady her. "Calm down!" he soothed, trying to calm her before she woke up the entire clan. He was thoroughly perplexed; first his scouts find Sylwanin, Mo'at's daughter who he hadn't seen in six years, and then she tries to ask for his help and then changes her mind. He had a half a mind to bring Adaman in – he was always better with dealing with rogue patients.

She fought against his touch, but he was stronger. Unfortunately, he resisting her made her scream again, so he just let her go, at a loss of what to do. "Sylwanin – Sylwanin, have sense!" he called desperately as she tried to make her way to the entrance. "You sought me out. You obviously need some kind of help. Did you honestly expect to come all this way and then not get whatever it is you need?"

That made her stop. Her ears went back, and she turned back around to face him. The tears had spilled out now, and she collapsed to her knees, sobbing. He came to sit beside her, but didn't touch her – it obviously set her off. Her tail was slack, her ears down. He sighed, glad she was slightly quieter. "Let me help you," he murmured, watching her.

She sniffed. "It's not just me you'd have to help…"

"That's fine. I'll do my best but I can only do that if you tell me what's happening." She sat back on her haunches, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her face in them. "Now tell me, who is Neytiri?"

There was silence for a long moment, until she finally said, "My little sister."

His ears perked up at this. He tried to process that as quickly and invisibly as possible. "Right. So, you both need help?"

"Yes… And mother, too."

He was really paying attention now. He hadn't seen Mo'at in years. He often wondered what had become of her. And now here her daughter was, asking for help for all of them. Worry pierced his heart. "Sylwanin," he said slowly, waiting for her to look at him before he said, "What is going on?"

"Eywa, you must be joking. Surely that didn't actually happen!" Adaman exclaimed.

The two were sitting in the royal's lounge, on woven mats across from one another as Eytukan quietly explained what he'd been told. "Seems like it has," he murmured, his face grim.

"Oh, I doubt it," Adaman said, getting up to cross the room to stand at the entrance. "She's young. She probably mistook what was happening. You know, these days, there's so many boundaries in what one can and can't do, she probably got confused. And undoubtedly her mother got into her head."

"I don't know, Adaman, confusion doesn't generally cause someone to scream the way she did when I merely touched her shoulder." The healer waved it off. "You weren't there. I've never seen someone react that way. So no I don't think this is 'confusion'."

"Look, it just doesn't seem plausible. Fah'ruk? Really? I doubt he'd do something like that. This is the sort of behaviour associated with rogue Na'vi."

"You know how you always accused Ateyo of having a shiftiness about him? I feel that way about Fah'ruk. I really wouldn't put it past him."

Adaman breathed out slowly, massaging his temples with his fingers. He slowly turned back around to Eytukan with a disbelieving scowl. "I'm just scared you're going to start a whole feud between the clans."

"Think about it, brother – if this is what happens in the Zeppan clan, do we really want to be affiliated with them?"

He held his tongue, giving a long sigh. "You always had a soft spot for Mo'at. Everyone knows that."

"This isn't about that. This is about protecting our fellow Na'vi. Now you can either help me, or stand aside, but you cannot stop me."

He looked at Eytukan, and saw the raw determination in his eyes. He knew perfectly well that whenever he was set in something, he rarely – if ever – changed his mind. And eventually, he had to agree that what he was saying was true. There was no point keeping an alliance with someone who was detrimental to their own kind. "All right," he eventually murmured, blinking his eyes once. Eytukan's eyes shifted from determination to cheerfulness. "But I have to say, you do have a penchant for bringing drama into this clan. Now we have the new laws coming in, your past coming back to the clan and the whole human issue. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"

'How could I not?' Eytukan thought to himself. The strange, foreign aliens who had set up camp not too far from them. They were impossible to forget with their strange ways and their strange looks: olive and white skin, short in stature and no tail or moving ears. How queer. They'd been around for years, but now they were embarking on something that made him actually tremble at the thought. "The so-called 'Avatar'," he began, the word tasting strange on his tongue, "should be coming in the next season. Apparently they won't be so different to us."

Adaman balked at the word. He knew what it meant – it had been explained to him – and it sounded terrifying. "Humans… so abnormal. They terrify me."

"Your own shadow would terrify you," Eytukan quipped, earning a sharp slap on his arm from his friend's tail. "Either way, there will be five coming."

"What are their names?"

Eytukan had to think for a moment, trying to recall the foreign sounding words. "Anthony, Connor, Grace, Ishita and someone else who I cannot remember the name of. I'll be assigning them members of the clan to be shown around. And I'll be putting Grace, I think her name is, with you."

"Excuse me?" Adaman felt like an arrow had just been lodged in his arm. He could only stare at Eytukan, quite certain the essence of his mind had been taken by Eywa.

He got a comforting smile in return. "Relax. She's a type of healer of their kind."

'Good to know,' Adaman thought. The doctor would be with him? His expression darkened. "Forgive me, but I suppose I can't really think of a human following me like a child follows their mother."

"You will be fine," Eytukan promised.

"If that is so, why can't you take her?"

"Because I now have to deal with the fact that a new family will be joining the clan," he said simply, giving Adaman's hair a ruffle before leaving the lounge. The healer could only sigh and watch him go. He trusted his leader's judgment, as he was meant to, but sometimes he wondered if he let too many personal feelings get in the way of a supposedly unbiased role.

Present Day

As the morning dawned bright, Adaman headed down the stairs, marching right to the medical centre. The strong, purposeful way he walked drew many looks from the clan members. Anger in the head healer was not something they were accustomed to seeing. And this anger only developed more as he saw Hari sitting lazily on one of the hammocks inside, sipping at a bowl of broth. "You know," Adaman began, catching the younger healer's attention, "you can have breakfast with the clan. I never asked you to be here constantly."

A smile twitched at Hari's lips. "It's always good to be prepared. I can go get you a bowl if you want."

"Yes, why don't you do that? You seem to have a knack for doing things for me, don't you?"

The smile slowly faded. "Are we still talking about broth?"

"Like fuck, we're talking about broth!" Adaman's eyes narrowed as he snarled at the young male. Despite not being a warrior, he took some pleasure in seeing him seem to retreat in on himself, pulling away.

Hari slowly put the bowl down and swung his feet over the hammock, looking up and blinking once. "So what are we discussing?"

He was so angry, he'd bitten his lip, and he could taste blood over his teeth. "When you find out something concerning the well-being of our leaders, you especially come and discuss it with me."

There was a long silence, before the younger started to laugh.

"Hari, do me a favour and don't laugh at this. I'm not being funny."

"Oh, but it is! Oh Adaman, do you not see the irony?" He got off the hammock, standing up to his full height which was a head taller than him. He hated that – the boy was barely 20 and he was taller. "You asked me to treat Grace. Remember? So I did. It just so happened that it turned out more positive than negative."

"I understand that. But like I just said, you always tell me if something like that happens. Eytukan and I go a very long way back and I'm always the one who treats his family. It was simply because Grace didn't feel comfortable with me treating her in that manner."

"Whatever happened to patient-healer exclusivity? I treated her, Adaman, not you. You have to remember that. So that means whatever the outcome is, I know, and you do not."

"What did I just – look, never mind, we're going around in circles." He sighed, shaking his head. His tail was rigid, and his hands were clenched. "Next time, you tell me these things! When it comes to the Tsan'ten's, that is my territory. Has been for years. And do not throw at me that Grace is an Augustine – " he began when Hari opened his mouth to protest. "Understand?"

"I see but, do let me know, Adaman – when it comes to orders from you, and then orders from the leader himself, which one do I listen to?"

This was enough to stop any argument springing to his lips. He couldn't understand how the conversation, which he had been in control of, had suddenly switched. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He was at an absolute loss of what to say. And as he saw the glimmer in Hari's eyes, it was the clear the youngster was happy for it to be that way. "They told you to keep it from me?" he asked hoarsely, some disbelief tainting his words.

Hari blinked. "You know what they say about boundaries – they change when power shifts. Maybe you ought to keep an eye on them." With a final meaningful look, he gave the slightest of smirks and left.