Interrogative
Ableryder had taken up a squatting position, leaning against the wall of the decanting room as she balanced precariously on the balls of her feet, the backs of her thighs resting on her heels. It was trickier than sitting on the ground, and it wasn't the most graceful of positions. But it was comfortable, as she didn't have to worry about squashing her tail.
It was on this very spot that she first walked in her Avatar body under the Pandoran sky, an eternity ago. The whole experience had been trippy, incredibly exciting, but it all turned to shit so fast when she realised that she had been brought to this world to destroy the Na'vi. She couldn't do it – not to an entire race of sentients, not after the Marianas Trench incident. She was already responsible for the death of millions. Ableryder had defected to the Na'vi cause as a penance for her sins, but even then there was too much blood on her hands – human blood. She had slain hundreds of mercenaries without pity – not at a distance with technological weapons like a tawtute, but up close with axe, club and blade. Even when she used a bow to kill she could hear the arrow biting into flesh, and she had felt nothing.
There was no doubt about it. She was a remorseless killer – the spirit of a palulukan walking in an Avatar body.
Trudy was lucky she was still alive. If Ableryder hadn't completely lost control, she would have drawn her blade and spilled Trudy's guts on the ground. It was only when the tawtute came out and fired the gun into the air that she realised what she was doing to a member of her own tribe.
The gentle pilot's words had been blunt, but they carried the ring of truth. Ableryder was still human at her core, and she still wished she could wake up, lifting the cover of the link chamber into the air, and exchanging a few words with the Avatar crew. She had learnt nothing from her time as a Na'vi.
Why had Eywa persisted with her?
"Temper still getting the better of you?" asked a voice to her left, making her start in surprise. It was the first time that someone had been able to creep up on her since she had first occupied her Avatar body.
It was Kendra.
"Yes," she replied, a whole range of emotions and meanings tied up in that single word.
Kendra walked around to stand directly in front of her, her hands on her hips. In this position she was looking directly into Ableryder's face without having to crane her neck.
"I haven't seen you since the Venture Star left," said Kendra, her voice steady and calm. "That's over a year. You went without saying good-bye."
Guilt struck at Ableryder's heart, and she wanted to look away, but there was nowhere she could go. She bit her lip and said, "I'm sorry, Kendra. I..." She couldn't say any more.
Her erstwhile lover stepped forward so that she was standing between Ableryder's thighs, removing her exopack in a slick movement. Before the Tipani warrior could protest, Kendra's lips were pressed against hers in a gentle, passionate kiss. Ableryder's eyes closed as she was deluged in a sea of sensation, feeling something she had never expected to feel again – the loving kiss of her soul-mate. She felt Kendra's hands grasp her head, deepening the kiss, and her arms crept around the human's small body, holding the precious soul it contained close. She was lost.
It was only when a small hand cupped her breast, making her growl with pleasure, that she realised what was happening. They had been kissing for at least a minute. She pulled away in a panic, to see Kendra's face smiling at her. She was still conscious.
"W-what...How?" stammered Ableryder.
The human reached down to the ground, picked up her exopack mask and refitted it over her face, quickly activating the seal. "Pah," she said. "Pandoran air tastes like old socks."
"Why aren't you unconscious on the ground?" demanded Ableryder.
"You weren't trying hard enough, Cathy," said Kendra, laughing at her. When Ableryder glared at her, she tapped her facemask and added, "Disposable nose filters, good for just under an hour of continuous use. The idea was to make it easier to eat and drink out on the field, and reduce dependence on relocatable buildings and pup tents. The Venture Star brought them in, but the paperwork to issue them was never completed before the trouble started. The only problem is that they take a little practice to use properly, and it's not a good idea to talk – too much temptation to breathe in."
Kendra had a very stubborn look in her eye as she said, "Before you start making excuses for me, I decided long ago that I only wanted one person, and her name is Cathy Ryder. I don't care if she is ten foot tall and blue with stripes, or a little green midget, or if I have to work a little harder to kiss her. I don't even mind having an aftertaste of old socks."
She continued on relentlessly, "I know I can't make tsahaylu with you, but I want to give you all I can. I just hope my love is enough."
"I surrender," said Cathy Ryder - for once not the implacable Tipani warrior.
Her lover smiled. "Come with me. I want to start an in-depth investigation on Na'vi comparative anatomy, but I don't want to do it out here where everyone can watch."
Ableryder stood up, taking Kendra's hand, and allowed herself to be led off to the Avatar long house.
A couple of hours later the two lovers were curled together on a bed, comfortably naked apart from one exopack. Kendra asked, "Why were you fighting with that Na'vi girl?"
The Tipani warrior reluctantly replied, "Because she told me I was an idiot for not telling you how I felt."
"Smart woman," said Kendra. "What is her name?"
Here was the moment where Ableryder had to tell the truth, no matter what the consequences. She swallowed nervously, and said, "Trudy Chacon."
There was a moment's silence, followed by Kendra turning over so she could look at Ableryder in the face. "You mean the pilot who defected to the Omaticaya, who, contrary to popular opinion, just happens to be both alive and full-blood Na'vi now?"
"Yes," said Ableryder, who then rushed into an explanation of the origins of the Na'vi, and the technology she found at the Well of Souls, and how Eywa told her to use it to save Trudy's life.
She waited anxiously for a reply from her lover, who had been listening without a single interjection or question, or change of expression from what appeared like mild curiosity.
"Trudy was right," commented Kendra. "You are an idiot. You realize that if you had told me after she had been rebirthed, I could have been a full Na'vi by now, and my tongue wouldn't taste like old socks."
"But it's dangerous," protested Ableryder. "You might die."
Kendra placed a finger against her lover's lips. She said firmly, "You're worth it. We leave for the Well of Souls first thing tomorrow."
That was clearly the end of that particular discussion.