Chapter 6: The Lonely

She groaned, but knew she had gained back most of her spiritual energy. She didn't know how long she was asleep, but she was hungry. She stood and looked around her room. There was no food, but there was another set of clothes. It seemed Mo'at had placed more clothes in here for her to wear. But she felt like a bath and then changing. She even looked down to see more necklaces and several strands of braided hair. She knew what they were. They were tributes from those she had brought back.

She stood with all the necklaces on. She looked around the halls and snuck out. She figured she could be alone when she took her much needed bath. There was a spring that wasn't too far off from home tree. She thought she had gotten out of home tree unnoticed, and it seemed the Na'vi didn't mind her anymore, but she failed to notice the one that followed her.

She got to the spring and placed the extra clothes done before she pulled the necklaces over her head and pulling off the top. She dropped it to the floor and undid the loin cloth before stepping into the cool water. She shivered briefly before diving under. She surfaced some distance away.

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He had followed her out, her protector not with her as he usually was. He was surprised when she came to a spring and stripped from her clothes. He knew he should have looked away but he was curious as to what she was doing until she submerged herself in the cold water and resurfaced. She seemed to sigh as her hands rubbed at her skin. This is when he turned away. He shouldn't watch her bathe naked. It was when he heard the light sound of the necklaces hitting each other that he turned back around. She was dressed again and heading back to home tree. He would make his presence known.

"You shouldn't wander around without your protector," he said, stepping up to her.

"I am not in any danger this close to home tree. I was only bathing." She never looked back at the much taller male. She would gather what she would eat then head back to home tree and hopefully find the others. She would then find the child and teach her as she had promised. The child was interested in the art of healing. She could not deny such a simple request as being taught. The child would become her apprentice.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru called when she entered home tree. He saw the male he did not get along well with walking behind her.

"Some protector you are," he said as he stopped next to her.

"I was looking everywhere for you," Sesshomaru ignored the male.

"I went to bathe, Sesshomaru-sama," she said. "Is there anything to eat?"

"Kikyo just returned from getting food. No one ate any of it because we are unsure if they are safe to eat. We were waiting for you to tell us if it was safe or not." He ignored the tall male as he led Kagome to the others. "There was also a child calling your name. She is sitting with the children, though they cannot understand each other."

"We'll have to do something about that," Kagome commented. She looked at what Kikyo had gathered as the Na'vi child came up to her. "To'at."

"Kagome, my training?" She looked at Kagome anxiously and Kagome just smiled.

"Soon. I need to eat first." The child nodded and sat back down.

Tsu'tey observed them. The Na'vi child seemed to look up to the Spiritual sky person and it seemed this group could not get by without her. She seemed to be an important part of their lives, but there was a woman glaring at Kagome and him and the child.

"Kagome, what is her problem?" He asked in Na'vi as he signaled to the woman.

"She is too prideful," she replied in Na'vi. "She is not open minded like Sesshomaru or the others."

"She is ignorant then," he said in English, knowing the woman would understand. Her anger seemed to rise and Sesshomaru had to stop the woman from lashing out at Tsu'tey and Kagome.

"Kisa, you are here by their will," Kagome reminded her.

"That doesn't give him the right to insult me," she snarled back in Japanese.

"He does have the right to suggest you leave and never return," Kagome said.

"He is not the leader. Jakesully is," she snarled back.

"He was to be the next leader, his word has just as much power as Jakesully's word. It is because of me that you have not been ordered to leave for everything you have done against them. I will not save your hide again," Kagome said. "Or must I give you a necklace much like your brother-in-law's necklace? I do not think you would like that humiliation."

Kisa sat down and turned her back on them. She was seething. Sesshomaru had not stuck up for her once during the whole exchange. She was the alpha female of the pack. Everyone knew that but this human female and these blue people.

"I apologize for her behavior, Tsu'tey. She will not act out of line again or she will be punished." Kisa flinched at the word, knowing it meant her humiliation.

"You cannot control her behavior, Kagome. You shouldn't have to apologize for her," Tsu'tey remarked. He watched as she went through the food.

"Still, I gave Mo'at my word that there would be no war from the ones that come to this planet. If they meant harm I was to send them away from this planet. She is coming to close to being thrown back on that ship to never return." She seemed to be separating the food. "You didn't do bad this time, Kikyo," Kagome said over her shoulder. "Most of this we can eat. Rinse it with water and it'll be fine to eat." Kikyo took the whicker basket to rinse the food so they could eat. When she returned Kagome ate and called To'at to her.

"Come, time for your training," Kagome told the child. They child looked bright-eyed and picked up a basket and Kagome waited for Sesshomaru to stand.

"Inuyasha, I'm leaving you in charge of them. Should anything happen I blame it on you, unless Kisa acts up. She'll be punished how I see fit if she misbehaves." He followed after Kagome without his reply. Tsu'tey also followed after them. He didn't care if he wasn't assigned to protect her. She saved his life so he owed her.

"What's with him?" Sesshomaru asked Kagome in Japanese so Tsu'tey could not understand them.

"He is honorable. A life for a life. Like that time I saved Rin. You protected me when my life was in danger because your honor called for it. In that sense he is similar to you. You both are arrogant too." Her eyes laughed at him.

"I am not arrogant," he said with a scowl.

"Whatever you say, Sesshomaru-sama. The two of you are still similar, even if you do not wish to acknowledge it." She turned to To'at when they entered the forest. "Now To'at your training begins." She went on to explain to the child what everything did in Na'vi.

Tsu'tey did not know she was so knowledgeable about what the plants were used to treat. He didn't even know what they did. There were not many that knew what the plants did. He would pay attention. The information would come in handy should something happen and Kagome was not there. A few others should learn this as well.

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Kagome had finished with the lesson for To'at and had decided to practice her archery. Sesshomaru was with his mate and child and she had managed to lose Tsu'tey. She wanted time alone. She hardly got to be alone since she got here. It felt nice to stand beneath the moonlight, bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows on her back. They were a bit oversized for her, but she didn't care. She took aim and released the arrow, it hitting its mark. She continued on like this until the whole quiver was empty.

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He had managed to find her after she had given him the slip. She held a lot of knowledge and he wanted to see what else she knew. So he was surprised when he did find her, a bow in hand and her shot seemed perfect, not that he knew what she was firing at. He came up behind her.

"You are a good archer," he commented.

"I've practiced a lot before Earth died." She lowered the bow. "Why do you keep following me?"

"You are to be protected."

"Even at home tree?" She turned and looked up at him.

"Sky people do not have the nest of balance," he commented.

"I'm not like the other sky people," she commented before turning away from him. She strapped the bow to her back and with an ease he knew no human to have, she took to a run through the trees. He followed after her and watched as she leapt, catching a branch and used it to propel herself to the next branch where she continued to run. He managed to keep up with her. She came to a stop and he stood behind her. She looked out over a waterfall.

"You have great balance and good endurance."

"I had to have both," Kagome said. She leapt from the tree and he ran forward before jumping after her. He landed and saw her looking over the waterfall.

"You should be careful."

"I'm not going to break," Kagome commented. "Many people, mostly men, think I will break because of my size. Sometimes it is those that are smaller that end up being stronger." She looked back at him. "It isn't size or species that counts, but what that person does. I am small but I held enough power to resurrect several thousand people, to make a great tree grow again and to an even greater size, and to re-solidify the ties of a whole planet. I should not have to be careful."

He looked at her. She was tiny compared to his people, but he knew she was right. Mo'at did not hold her in such high regard for nothing. She was a very powerful sky person. He knew he should have feared her, that all of the Na'vi should have feared her, but she didn't give them a reason to. She looked to their injured and sick and was great with their children, but they still did not seem to accept her. They treated her as if she would turn on them in an instant. She helped them and they were wary of her. What was there to be wary about? She brought back their loved ones.

She turned away from him. "It does not change the fact that I will be alone here."

"You are not alone. Someone is always with you," he commented.

"That is not what I meant." She shook her head. "Neytiri has Jakesully, Mo'at has Eytukan, Sesshomaru has Kisa, no matter how stuck up she is, Inuyasha has Kikyo, Shippo and Mizu, and the others. Soon you will find your mate, but I will not have such a bond with someone. Someone with the power to save a whole planet risks being alone for the remainder of their existence."

"You should not say that," he said as he moved slightly closer.

"Why not say what is true? None of your men would even approach me with such a prospect. There are no human or demon men that are single here. I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life. I have accepted that already." She hid her tears from him. She knew that after today she would have to emotionally distance herself from her old companions and this Na'vi man. She would still see to the ill and teach To'at, but she would not form any sort of relationship with these people. They were wary of her anyway.

"Inter racial breeding is…"

"Prohibited. I know. Good night." She climbed back into the tree and started running back to home tree never looking back at him. She made sure that no one would find her. She climbed into the highest branches of home tree and rested her back against the bark and closed her eyes as the pure spirits consumed her form. Not even Sesshomaru would find her.

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He was at a loss for words. The sky person had a point though. She would be alone. No one of his people would want a relationship with her. He would find a woman for him among his people. But he knew he would never love the woman he became mated to. None of them held such knowledge or passion. He knew not to expect to find her anytime soon. She was upset. She would avoid everyone but he didn't know for how long.

He walked back to home tree to think. He didn't want to be bothered right now. He wanted to think and possibly see what he had said wrong. It must have been when he told her to be careful. She seemed to be in a good mood before that, and that comment and led up to the whole conversation of her being alone for what remained of her existence. At that moment it started to rain and he was forced to take to the shade in order to not get wet. He had to remember not to upset her. She was linked to Eywa, and what she felt, Eywa felt.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. As you can see, Kagome is depressed and Tsu'tey is partially to blame. Kagome is not going to be paired with Jakesully. The little names at the bottom does not determine pairing. It is more of who is in the story. I'll try to move this story along some. But read, review, and ENJOY!