Flashpoint.
Things weren't looking up right about now. Tensions between the colony and the Na'vi had just reached its flashpoint after a skirmish between a hunting party and a squad over a mechanic and a Na'vi boy. Now there was an armada of flying beasts flying near the mining compound and a large number of colonists and soldiers armed to the teeth. If things didn't calm down fast enough, this was going to be a bloodbath.
As Jake and Alex talked between each other, a group of humans watched both the two leaders in question, and the flying beasts in the distance. In question, they were all part of the militia, with the exception of the mechanic; Gage.
"They've been talking for a while." Mac said to no-one in particular.
"You don't say, Sherlock." Dwight muttered.
"Hey, I'm just nervous." Mac defended himself.
"You think YOU'RE nervous?" whispered Gage. "I don't even know why I'm here! Do you?"
"Nope." Dwight shrugged.
"Then why the hell are you going along with this?"
"Because we trust Alex, that's why." Mac shrugged indifferently.
There was more silence. The Na'vi chieftain and the liaison kept talking.
"Waitaminute." Gage suddenly realised. "How did you convince Mr. Netanyahu?"
One of the militia men; Emile, barely suppressed a wolfish smile.
"That's easy." he smiled. "We didn't."
"What? But he's going to go ballistic when he hears about this!"
"Nah, he's cowering in a bunker near the admin." Mac reassured him. "That said, I hope this is wrapped before he finds out what's going on."
The two leaders kept talking. Another militiawoman; Jade, started to look worried.
"Do you think they know?" she whispered.
"Who?"
"The guys back at base. You know, everyone else?"
"Probably." Dwight replied. "Why? Worried backup won't get here in time?"
"You kidding me?" Jade whispered. "Backup getting here is exactly what I'm worried about!"
"What? Why?"
"C'mon man. A bunch of testosterone charged mercs flying in here guns blazing?"
The thought sank in.
"Okay, that is bad." Dwight agreed. He looked around. The sun was starting to set. "Odds are... they'll probably be here by nightfall."
The humans watched the conversation for another couple of minutes. Then Jake got onto his Banshee and flew off.
"Is it all settled boss?" Emile called out.
"Not yet." Alex called back. "He'll be back in a minute or two."
"What- what's he doing?"
"He's just getting a friend of his."
"Oh... okay then."
They waited a few minutes. The flare went out. Alex popped another one. He didn't leave his spot.
Suddenly two of the great shapes out in the sky flew towards them. They were Banshee's, one of them the same as Jake's, the other one, a different beast. The riders dismounted. Jake was one of them, but the other Na'vi rider was a man who none of the militia recognized. Gage on the other hand, met him before.
"Oh man, Oh god..." Gage whispered, face turning white.
"What's the problem?" Mac asked.
Gage didn't answer.
There was some talking for a few more minutes. Then Alex turned towards the group.
"Mr Hudson." He called out. "Could you come over here?"
The poor mechanic was rooted to the spot.
"Guys? Would you kindly?"
Jade prodded the mechanic. "Dude, c'mon."
There was no response.
Dwight sighed before grabbing Gage's arm. The group slowly made their way to Alex.
As they made their way over, the Na'vi man who had come with Jake seemed to recognize Gage. His face started to turn red. He made a move towards the humans. Jake grabbed him quickly.
"Se'huk! Don't do anything rash!" he ordered in Na'vi.
"Rash?" Se'huk snapped back. "He's the one that stole my son!"
The two Na'vi started to argue. Only Alex could understand what was being said, the other humans could only just stand there and hope that they weren't talking about their impending execution.
Alex started to interrupt the argument. He started to talk fluently in Na'vi, and lo and behold, he seemed to calm them down. Then he turned towards Gage.
"Gage I need you to tell us your version of what happened back at the dozer." He said firmly. "Pick your words with the most extreme care."
Gage stuttered for a second, but he managed to collect himself. He told them everything. How, while he was repairing the dozer, the child had appeared out of nowhere. He was careful to emphasise that he didn't know how the child got there, only that he tried to make him go away by giving him an apple. Alex and Jake translated for Se'huk. Gage finished by saying that he was sorry for this whole mess, and that he wasn't sure how he could make up for it.
Despite the confession, Se'huk didn't seem very impressed. He said that there was no way his boy could sneaked his way through the guards. And that was when things devolved back into argument. The three Na'vi speakers started to argue amongst themselves, even Alex.
"This isn't going well." Whispered Dwight.
"No shit Sherlock." Mac responded flatly.
Then just when things looked like they were about to get worse... They did just that.
"What the hell is this shit?" shouted a voice coming from the compound.
The group turned to see what they had hoped they would not to see: Mr. Netanyahu, thundering over with three RDA security guards.
Goddamnit... Alex thought, gritting his teeth. Just when I was on to something.
"Sir, could I PLEASE ask you to return to the Admin block bunker immediately?"
"I'll do no such thing!" Rueben snapped through his exo-mask. "I am not going to have anyone bargaining with extra-terrestrial savages over this colony! This land is-"
Jake started to lose his cool. "Excuse me, But I do know how to speak English!" he shouted.
"OH! I see..." he sneered. "The blue smurf knows how to talk civilised!" Rueben continued to rant; completely unaware of whom he was talking to. "Well excuse me, but just because our liberal left wing militia likes you, doesn't mean the rest of us does!"
"I resent that!" Jade shouted indignantly.
"Rueben, this is MY jurisdiction!" Alex snapped with as much authority as he could muster. "I am ordering you to go back and stay the fuck out of this!"
"Or what?" Rueben sneered back. "You're going to write a letter to that big teddy bear Halverson?"
Alex was about to punch the officious man's face in. His fists clenched.
But then the strangest thing happened. He felt... calm. A strange sense of calm and harmony flooded within him.
It was hard to explain. But he felt amazing. He felt as if someone had splashed a bucket on himself. He stopped thinking murderous thought and started thinking policeman thoughts.
Just stay calm a voice inside his head told him.
The situation was starting to spiral out of control. If this wasn't resolved soon, people were going to die.
Let me think. Whispered Alex inside his mind.
As the people around him raged, he started to measure them up. Rueben was the problem. All of his manifest destiny raging was going to get them all killed. The RDA guards seemed to support him, but even they were starting to look uncomfortable. Alex guessed that they would support him if they were attacked, but they privately wanted Rueben to shut the hell up. They didn't want to fight Jake and Se'huk at such short range. Dwight and the others would support Alex; they respected him more than some blowhard supremacist. Problem was, they couldn't act first, without being convicted of assault. Jake was arguing with Rueben, and he was starting to grow more and more aggro. Same with Se'huk, he didn't quite understand the language, but he knew what was being said through the tone. Finally, Gage wouldn't be of any help period. He looked as if he was way out of his depth.
Alex knew that in order to pacify the situation, he needed to shut Rueben up. Problem was, if he just punched him, or use force (reasoning with him was out the window.) the two mercenaries could get nasty. Finally, he couldn't threaten him with his gun, because-
Alex's eye drifted to his pistol in his leg holster.
Could I?
It sounded crazy, but it just, might, work...
Rueben was still arguing with Jake, about who owned Pandora or something like that, when Alex drew his pistol out of his holster, raised it at the foreman and said with unnatural calm and authority. "Rueben, I am ordering you to head back to the admin bunker right now, or I will shoot you."
Time seemed to have stopped for about five seconds as everyone took in what Alex was doing.
Rueben gave another one of his sneers. "So this is what it's come to huh? You love the aliens so much you're willing to kill one of your own human comrades?"
"I didn't say I was going to kill you." Alex replied in a serious, calm fashion, never taking his eyes off Rueben. "I am not perfect and I don't 'love' these aliens..." he pointed his other thumb at Jake without taking his eyes off Rueben. "Well, he might, but unlike you, I've been given the authority to find out who is in the wrong and who is in the right. AND, unlike so many other people, I've actually got the good knowledge to know the bloody difference. So I am asking you one more time, fuck off."
Everyone was silent. Alex thought he heard his radio squawk, but he didn't listen.
There were many thoughts going around the group's heads. For Gage, it was Oh why didn't I listen to dad and stay home? For Se'huk, it was These humans are fucking crazy. They're ALL crazy.
The militiamen and the mercenaries on the other hand were thinking Why the hell is his pistol taped up in orange training colours?
Rueben decided to call Alex's bluff. "You don't have the balls to shoot me." He said, trying to draw on as much bravado as he could. "Go right ahead."
Alex gave an indifferent "Okay." Then he pulled the trigger.
The round smacked right into Rueben's forehead, throwing him on the ground immediately.
Everyone raised their weapons at Alex in shock and horror. The Na'vi backed away. The great banshees squawked at the gunshot.
"OH MY GOD ALEX," screamed Mac. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST- wait, what?"
The militia and mercenaries were seconds away from beating Alex's head into oblivion, if not shooting him, when they all looked at Rueben.
His head and mask were covered in orange paint, the origin of which being a small dime sized bruise right in the middle of his forehead. His chest still rose up and down. He was still very much alive.
"What did you do to him?" Jake asked quietly.
"It's paint-tranq." Alex said examining his gun. "It causes partial paralyses and if enough is uh, applied, unconsciousness. We use it in training."
"Wait a minute." Emile shook his head rapidly. "I thought we swapped out for real ammo when we headed out?"
"Guess I forgot my pistol." Alex holstered the taped up gun. He then tapped the shotgun slung over his back. "For the record though, my shotgun is loaded with the real deal."
The mercenaries and militia lowered their weapons slowly. One of the militia men asked a mercenary: "I'm surprised we didn't just shoot him down right then."
"Me too." The merc answered. "But I figured something wasn't right with the training tape."
Jake was in the process of telling Se'huk what the hell just happened. Then he turned to Alex and said "You're crazy Alex."
Alex shrugged. "I just do what it takes."
There was silence. They weren't sure what exactly to do. Gage looked like he was a witness to a crime.
"What about my son?" Se'huk surprised everyone by asking the question in English.
"Mr. Se'huk I'm so sorry about him." Gage pleaded. "Please... uh, what's the word... txoa?"
"I think he's telling the truth Se'huk." Jake said carefully.
Se'huk was silent for a while before finally responding with "I think you're right." In Na'vi.
"Does that mean it's settled then?" asked Dwight.
"No." Se'huk shook his head. "I will talk to my son. Get his view. Then I will come back."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Mac said. "This place will be locked down tight."
"Hold on..." Gage said suddenly being helpful. "How about I get a radio from the stores for you guys? You could contact us on a frequency, and then we could arrange a place to meet. What about that?"
Jake mulled it over for a minute. "Yeah... that could work." He started to brighten up.
"Gage, could you quickly go and fetch a good radio?" asked Alex.
"Yes sir." Gage said, already running back to the hangars. With his exo-suit, he was there in 30 seconds.
Alex turned to the mercenaries. "What do we do about Rueben?"
A merc shrugged. "We'll just drag him to medical." He said bending over to pick up Rueben. He slung over his back like a hunter hauling a steer. "I'll tell everyone that it's all cool now."
"Thanks."
As the mercenaries walked off to the compound, Jake spoke up.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
Jake was silent for a few seconds before shrugging in an uncertain manner. "Don't know. But thanks anyway."
"Well... okay then." Alex keyed his radio. "Wikus, come in."
"Huh... what?" a voice called back, disturbed from doing Sudoku puzzles while grounded with the rest of the mines air fleet.
"It's Garnett. The situation's been resolved. Could you come pick us up?"
"Sure thing bru. Where are you?"
"Out in the fields near the hangars. Look for the banshees."
"Uh... okay then. Coming in, ETA two minutes."
Gage had come back, hefting a radio pack. "You know how to use this thing Mr Sully?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then. There's an instruction manual packed with this in case of... well, you know." He gave the backpack to Jake, who put it on his back. "Don't forget to use the frequency. It's on the manual."
"Right..."
As Jake and Se'huk mounted their banshees, the thundering sound of beating helicopter blades came as Wikus' Haast flew over. It settled on the ground about twenty metres away Alex and co.
"Do you guys mind if I hitch a ride with you?" asked Gage. "It's past my work shift."
Alex shrugged. "Don't see why not." He turned to his squad. "What are you waiting for? Get in."
As the other humans went and got on the chopper, Alex walked over to the great beasts.
"Hey Jake!" he shouted in Na'vi.
"What?"
"We don't have to be enemies."
Jake was silent.
"Maybe..." he said back. Then he and Se'huk flew off.
Alex got on his chopper. He watched the compound get further away, and watched the Na'vi armada break off and go home. He then felt the Haast switch to jet flight.
"Hey Alex!" shouted Wikus from the cockpit.
"What?"
"Not bad for a day's work eh?"
Alex thought for a while.
Did I really win?
He looked at his team. They were tired, but in good spirits. More importantly, they were alive.
Alex found himself smiling. "Yeah... Yeah I guess eh?"
"We're pulling back." Shouted Jake to the rest of armada.
"What?" blurted Mu'kala. "Why?"
"Don't argue with me." Shouted Jake. "Tell everyone that we're going home."
"Oi Alex!" shouted Wikus over the chopper. "Get up here!"
"What?"
"Call coming from the guys over there." He yelled, pointing to the horizon.
Alex couldn't quite see past Wikus and the windscreen, so he poked his head out of the troop bay to get a better view. A few other guys did the same thing.
"Woah jeez..." breathed Alex.
Coming closer and closer, heading in away from the mines was a human flying armada. There were Scorpions and Samsons, Haasts and something even bigger rumbling through the skies. It looked like what could have been the entire colony's fleet flying through the skies. There must have been close to under a hundred flying vehicles careening through the skies. Most of the flyers were being piloted and filled by the RDA mercenaries.
"Radio's buzzing about you bru." Wikus yelled out. "I think they're disappointed that they're not going to be kicking any ass tonight."
"Yeah?" shouted Alex "Hate to spoil their fun then..."
The chopper merged into the convoy, switching back to chopper mode to match up its speed. The radio began buzzing with a mix of standard chatter and whining about how they got ready to go to war for nothing.
As they headed back to base Alex noticed one flying plane that stood out from the rest. It was high above them, flying out of the range of any banshee or other flying monster, making it impossible to effectively attack by the Na'vi. It was an AC-320 Emperor Gunship. A distant descendant of the old AC-130 Spectre, the Emperor was a Dragon gunship that was equipped and modified with artillery cannons. Armed with two heavy howitzers, three autocannons and four chainguns, the Emperor could destroy a small town in a few minutes. The Na'vi would've had no chance in hell of killing it.
"Damn..." Emile said simply, noticing it himself. "Glad we sorted everything out before they showed up huh?"
"Yeah..."
The hollow was quiet. The light from the planet in the sky and the glow of the forest gave the Hometree a sort of peace. Easy to sleep in. The hollow was filled with sleeping Na'vi. They needed that sleep. They were injured. Hurt. This was the tribes equivalent to a hospital.
Three Na'vi were being led through the bedmats, past sleeping Na'vi. The one leading, was Mo'at; the Tsahik, or shaman. The other was the chieftain of the tribe, and the other was a father. They tread through the hollow in utter silence.
The Tsahik stopped at one of the bedmats. On it lay a Na'vi boy, shot in the side. He was sleeping peacefully. To the left of him, sat the mother. When Se'huk saw her, he embraced her to comfort.
"Will my son be okay?" asked Se'huk in fear.
"Have no fear Se'huk." Mo'at whispered reassuringly. "He will make a full recovery."
Se'huk went down on his knees. For a man who wanted to go to war with the humans, this was not easy for him.
"Hey...'evi" he whispered to his son's ear.
The child stirred a little. His eyes fluttered open slowly.
"Sempul?" he croaked. "Father?"
"It's me." Se'huk whispered, forcing a small smile. "It's all going to be alright Ke'tan."
They were silent for a minute as the boy collected his thoughts together. Jake drifted to the background
"Why did you hurt that sky-man?" he whispered.
"What?"
"He was just giving me a piece of fruit..." he whispered. "He was nice to me."
The people around him were silent.
"Why did you leave your friends?"Mo'at said softly.
The boy, Ke'tan, looked miserable. "I just wanted to look around." He whispered. "I thought I heard a rumbling sound. I wanted to see it."
"Rumbling?" the father said in disbelief. "Ke'tan, I told you to stay away from those sounds." He looked like a man who had failed to make himself clear. "Those are bad sounds."
"I just wanted to see."
"So you went off by yourself? Alone?" Her mother said.
"You could have been killed Ke'tan!"
"I'm sorry dad, I..." Ke'tan trailed off. "I'm sorry." He paused and said. "I went and looked when you were busy and I saw the sky people's mines."
"How did you get so close?" Jake asked.
"The grass was long. I wanted to get closer, but I saw this big orange beast near the forest." Ke'tan whispered. "I wanted to see what it was."
"Go on."
"It was really big." He whispered. "There were sky-people all around it, but they were all watching the forest. I came from behind." He paused to catch his breath. "It was going around the side of the fields. Then it stopped."
"Why?"
"I didn't know dad." He kept whispering. "When it stopped, a sky-man got out and climbed out from the top. Then he opened it the monster up and started to poke around inside it."
"So why did you go to it?" Se'huk asked in disbelief. He didn't want to believe that his son had done something foolish.
"I wanted to see how he did it."
"Did what?"
"Open up a beast and poke around inside." He said with a tinge of awe. "How do they do that dad? Open up the inside of a beast without killing it?"
The other Na'vi looked at each other to try to come up with an appropriate answer.
"Maybe you'll understand when you are older." Se'huk said paternally. "You said you went up to it?"
"Yes sempul." Ke'tan continued. "I crept up to the beast; all of the guards were on the other side. Then I saw the sky-man poking around inside it." The boy paused. "I watched work inside it. Then he saw me."
There was silence.
"What did he do?" Se'huk asked.
"He looked... I don't know... scared maybe... I asked him what he was doing. He didn't really answer."
"What did he do?"
"He gave me some kind of fruit." Sighed Ke'tan. "Well... he was about to... Then you came."
Everyone was silent. One might have been able to hear the sounds of the tribe coming from outside the Hometree's hollow. But nobody talked for a while.
"Ke'tan..." Se'huk whispered. "I'm sorry that all of that had to have happened like that." The strong man was close to tears. "You have to believe me..." He gripped his son's hand tightly.
The child started to cry. "I'm sorry too sempul." He croaked. "I shouldn't have left..."
"It's okay..." Ke'tan's mother whispered. "It's all going to be okay..."
"To Alex Garnett!" shouted out Noh. "Our Ambassador to the Na'vi peoples. The silver tongue, the arbiter of justice and the guy who can get away with shooting somebody!"
"Aww you guys..."
The Rec centre was in full swing. The place was packed with people off their shifts, do everything, from drinking, gambling, watching movies, playing games, reading, whatever people did to past the time.
The bar in question was packed. As well as the usual regulars, the militia was in the process of toasting to Alex's diplomatic victory. Alex's team was there, as well as his friends, Noh and even Wikus had showed up. There was a whole new vibe in the air. Things weren't so tensed up as they were in the afternoon or even in the days beforehand. There was laughter and joy, a general feeling of celebration. People got the feeling that things were all right.
"Dude..." Noh drifted. "I cannot believe that I wasn't there when you put a bullet in the foreman's face!"
"You tell me..." Alex smiled. "Where were you anyway? Battlesuit training right?"
"Right. By the time I heard about what was going on, you were already on the scene, so command thought there was no need to send me." Noh nodded. "When the alarms sounded though, you bet your ass that I was made combat worthy and sent to the mines."
"You were in the air?"
"Nah, I was on the ground. You probably didn't see us, but most of us militia guys had to drive or walk to the mines." He smiled. "Running through a forest and road, encased in a couple of tons in armor... incredible man..."
There was more drinking and gossiping. One guy was talking about how some of the mercenaries were having a sook because they didn't get to do any fighting.
"They always bitch about anything really." The man went on. "Still, makes a nice change to listening to them go on about Na'vi women.."
"Hey guys..." Alex asked. "There's one thing I still don't get..."
"What?"
"If the foreman didn't send the signal for help, who did?"
Wikus casually raised his hand. "I did."
The militia on the table were silent for a second while the rec room continued to buzz with activity.
"You did!" blurted Jade incredulously.
The pilot shrugged. "I was just running a patrol over the road between the colony and the mines when I heard the chatter on the radio. I thought the first thing I should have done was radio command." He said professionally.
Everyone looked surprised.
"What?" he said defensively. "Everyone expects a militia to be a do-gooder, but nooooo...when a mercenary does the right thing oh no! It's obviously a Trap!"
"Okay, you've made your point smartass." Mac laughed.
Alex took a drink out of his beer. For the first time since... well, forever, he felt really happy. He managed to do his job, despite the obstacles, and prevent war between two peoples. He couldn't say that he wasn't proud of himself.
Yet for some reason, he still got the feeling that something wasn't right about what happened.
"Hey Alex!" Mac said. "Did you know that a sniper was about to put a bullet when you shot Rueben?"
"Yeah, Carson told me the only reason I didn't get killed was that the sniper saw the tape on the pistol..."
"Yeah man..." Emile went on. "But what really struck me was how cool, calm and collected you were."
"Yeah I guess..."
"No man, I'm serious." Emile said with sincerity. "You were so ice calm when you drew that pistol. I thought that you were like, I don't know... high or something."
"Yeah." Dwight joined in. "I mean, I was fucking going to break that assholes nose in, I was pissed. I thought you might have been too."
"What's your secret boss?" asked another. "How did you keep so calm under pressure?"
Alex was silent.
It occurred to him once, when it had actually happened. When he was about to break and go after Rueben, the strangest sense of calm came over him. Almost as if someone grabbed his hand and told him to control his breathing. Like fresh water being poured into his body. He had felt rejuvenated, ready to take on the challenge in the logical, objective way that it needed to be done. There was also another part of that feeling. Some kind of... vibe. Something he had felt before...
Then it hit him. He had felt that vibe before, during the blackout a month or two ago. He felt it when he had went into those... Darklands. It was like he had felt its signature just now. And the voice... it felt familiar.
"Well..." Alex began. "I think I can attribute it to all of copious amounts of drugs, alcohol and sex that have every day."
The table burst into laughter.
"To our esteemed guest of honour!" Noh shouted.
Everyone clanked their drink.
The Hometree was starting to come back to life. The warriors had put their gear down, and were resting from a long day of flying. Jake and Se'huk had explained to everyone what had happened, which came off as a mixture of relief and confusion. What was surprising for all was the feeling of tension that had filled the forest during the morning was gone. People were laughing and singing, there had been a great communal meal put on for everyone, even the wounded were able to attend. It was a total u-turn from the morning.
As peoples families were heading off to bed, Neytiri was finishing up Miri's bedtime story.
"And so after so many trials and troubles, the boy had found himself back home, in the arms of the parents who loved him and he lived happily ever after." She finished "The end."
"And did his friends come back to visit him?" the young girl asked.
"Yes Miri. He got to see all of the people who had helped him get home again."
There was the sound of person clearing his throat. Neytiri looked behind and saw Jake.
"I see you." He smiled.
Miri gave a squeal of delight. Neytiri got up and hugged Jake.
"How are you holding up?"
"Fine...just tired." He nodded. "It's been a long day."
"I can imagine." She smiled. "I was just finishing off Miri's bedtime story."
"Which one did you tell?"
"Re'ken's Journey."
"Oh, a good one." He smiled.
"Dad..." asked Miri. "What did you do today?"
Neytiri answered for him. "Dad's been busy dealing with the sky-people." She began. "There was some trouble between some of our friends and their people."
"Did anyone get hurt?"
Neytiri paused for a moment. "Yes... a few people got hurt..." she said uncertainly. "But they're all going to be all right."
"Okay then."
Jake whispered to his wife "'Tiri, could I talk to you for a moment?"
"About what?"
Jake led Neytiri out of their quarters. "Listen, I think it's time we told her."
"Told her?" she looked a little puzzled. "About-...oh right."
Jake and Neytiri walked back in.
"Miri... could we talk for a minute?" Jake asked in trepidation.
Miri sat up with a little bit of caution. "Did I do something bad?"
"No, no, no. Nothing of the sort... It's just..." Jake trailed off a little.
He went over to Miri and kneeled down to her level. Then he held one of her hands up.
"Miri... Do you remember that you once asked me on why you have five fingers, while everyone else has four?"
"Uh- huh." Miri nodded. "You said it was cause people look like their moms and daddies."
"Right." Jake agreed. "And then you asked why I had five fingers right? Like a Sky-person."
Miri nodded curiously.
"Well, the thing is..." Jake started to say before taking a breath. "The reason that I have five fingers is because I used to be a Sky-person."
Miri looked a little confused for a moment.
"How is that possible?"
"It's... a little harder to explain." Jake said hesitantly. "You wouldn't understand until you're older."
Miri was silent for a while. Her tail started to curl and uncurl at times.
"If you were a sky-man..." she said carefully. "Then did you help destroy the Hometree?"
Neytiri moved forward. "No Miri!" she said with a voice that was a strange mix of force and pleading. "He never fought against us. He nearly died saving us from the ones who tried to destroy us."
Miri recoiled back. "I'm sorry mum..."
"It's okay Miri." Neytiri nodded. "It's okay."
They were silent for a short while.
"Why did you fight against your own people?" Miri asked.
"Because I didn't like what they were doing. And because I grew to love this world." Jake answered quietly. Then he turned to Neytiri. "But mostly, it was because I loved your mother." He gave a small, shy smile. Neytiri blushed a little.
"Listen, Miri..." Neytiri began maternally. "There isn't much else that we can tell you right now, but we need you to promise us that you won't talk about this to anyone, even your friends. Unless they ask you about it. And especially not to strangers. Okay?"
Miri nodded. "Okay then mommy."
"That's my girl." Neytiri smiled. "Now, it's time to go to bed."
Jake and Neytiri were just about to get up when Miri broached another question.
"Daddy, these sky-people are good right?"
Jake mulled the question over.
"I think most of them are."
"Then can they stay?"
Jake stood silent.
"Yes Miri. I think they can."