Chapter 10:

Distant sobs broke through his dreams, shattering the veil of peace he had been drawn inside. They pierced his heart, like arrows of glass shot from the stars. He opened his eyelids, revealing the space he now inhabited. Purple fog twisted like living flame around him, moving slowly forwards, he began to hear raised voices.

"I love Him!

"I don't care what you feel, I will not allow it!"

"What do you expect me to do, skxawng?, I will not have a female partner!"

"Yes you will."

"You cannot make me!"

"Yes I can, or you will no longer be of the Omaticaya Clan."

Jake tried to decipher the voices, but it was like the purple fog muffled all their voices to where he couldn't guess the people involved. Being forcefully pulled away from the conversation, Jake found himself thinking about what the two involved had been saying. They had clearly been both males, he could understand that from their tone of voice. As for the rest of the details, he had no idea.

"Jake?"

"Neytiri?"

His voice seemed to echo into the void, almost losing hope of a reply; he jumped when the same crystal clear voice spoke to him.

"I brought you here Jake, you must learn."

"Learn what?"

The cool, mercury like presence seemed to withdraw, and Jake was left floating in the fog.

Tsu'tey had slept with Jake's seemingly comatose form for the past four days, not wanting to move from his side. Grace had confirmed he was in some kind of coma, not responding to any treatment they gave to wake him up. Tsu had not moved from his side, but on the morning of the fifth day, he decided to go for a walk. What could have been done to Jake to make this happen? There were no traces of any kind of poison in his body, and his body was functioning perfectly apart from his coma. Tsu'tey's mindset shifted from one of sorrow to one of rage. He felt like he was constantly being heated up, and cooled down too fast. It was playing havoc with him.

Eytukan awoke alone again. The numbness slowly eating away at him, his resolve weakening. Mo'at had been gone too long, he was already thinking back to the past, back to the times before he was with Mo'at. Back to the times that he kept hidden, even from himself. The memories glowed in his mind like hot coals, and they hurt just as much as hot coals. Breathing heavily, he sat up and tried to shake them from his mind.

"You never were like that, they wouldn't let you, and you never were like them."

Grace was getting increasingly concerned for Jake's wellbeing. He had passed out on the side of a mountain from what seemed like emotional stress. This was very troubling. Grace didn't understand. It wasn't like he was in a coma completely; it just looked like he was dreaming. It made it easier to tell Tsu'tey it was something she could understand, and keep him worrying less.

"I tell you; sometimes...I just want to give up" she muttered

She slowly rose from the chair and glanced back at Jake on the bed. He looks just fine, nothing wrong with him, like he's sleeping. Grace knew better, she had theories. None of them pleasant, none of them she could fix. Either way, they were in a pretty bad situation. Tsu'tey had vanished off into the forest earlier in the day, and Mo'at kept to herself.

"Why can't things just be simple...once in a blue moon?"

Jake opened his eyes, and suddenly was looking into the eyes of Neytiri. He jumped back as quickly as possible, running his gaze up and down Neytiri's form.

"Is it...really you?"

"I told you before; I would always remain with you Jake."

Jake could hardly believe it himself, even though he could tell this wasn't real. The purple fog lingered around the edge of the circle they stood in. For some reason, Jake was afraid of the fog. It looked so angry, so vicious. He shifted his gaze back to Neytiri, and suddenly felt the love for her boom in his chest. He shook it away, it wasn't real. It wrenched his heart in two to finally turn her away. Neytiri looked at him quizzically, seeming to realise what Jake was thinking, but not understanding fully.

"Jake, you know very little of the troubles you face."

"Well I know me and Tsu'tey are excluded from a group for being different, sounds just like happy human life" Jake muttered, words dripping with sarcasm.

"But do you know why?"

"Because they hate the idea of change? Because they think two males is a disgrace to Eywa?"

"It seems you have already decided it is the entire clan that made this decision."

Jake faltered; he hadn't considered...He knew it was Eytukan...but...

"They didn't exactly stop him, or disagree with him!"

"And the group of children that came to help you?"

Neytiri seemed to have a counter-argument to everything he said, so he'd let her win. He wanted to know the answers.

"So, what don't I know?"

"You don't know the reasons behind the insatiable hate."

Jake just stood there; Eytukan had some kind of other reason for hating them so much? His mind flew back to the conversation he had heard earlier.

"No...That can't be possible."

"Why? Jealousy, the root of most evil."

Eytukan was...JEALOUS? Of what? Why?

Jake was left with these questions spinning in his mind. He screamed. The world seemed to shatter. Questions and answers slid together, the world was lost in a blue haze.

Still screaming, Jake awoke.