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Chapter 3:

Question of Innocence

Tommy looked over at Norm and wiped his sweaty brow, "Oe tse'a…" he was confused, he looked around once more at his new surroundings, which had just been flashed away, replaced with new, morose surroundings. Norm couldn't move, his eyes just stared intensely at Tommy; but before Tommy could move, the leaf door flew open and Tommy saw his mother and Lo'mi walk in.

Natyiri's head was turned, not seeing what was going on in the hut, "The Uniltaron is very important any hunter…" but she caught the shocked face of Lo'mi before she could finish and turned around to see what was causing such an expression.

Tommy stood and watched everyone's eyes, including Norm's follow him; but when he took at step towards Norm, to see if he was okay, Norm's eyes got fierce and dangerous and he began to scream, "TIKAWNG! TIKAWNG! TIKAWNG! KA NE'IM!"

Tommy took a step back, looked at his mother, and shrugged; he too was just as confused as she. "Kempe 'ong fìtseng?" She said looking at Tommy with concern, to which he simply shrugged confused. She repeated, "Kempe 'ong fìtseng?"

"Oe ra a omum?" He said looking over at Norm, scared.

Hearing all of the commotion inside the hut, Jake returned with Norm's medicine and entered. He looked around for a moment at the situation, Norm was still staring angrily at Tommy, while his mate and Lo'mi's eyes ping ponged back and forth between the two, "What happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Tommy screamed and ran out of the hut.

Lo'mi followed him screaming his name but he didn't stop running. She followed him all the way through the forest to the tree of souls, his mother had taken him there many times to tell him the stories of their ancestors. It was a comforting place for him, after being ridiculed by his peers, coming here and sensing that Eywa has a plan for him made everything else seem frivolous. When Lo'mi finally caught up to him he was sitting with his head in his hands, "Are you okay?" she asked, wanting to know what happened, but refusing to ask due to his last response to that very question.

He looked up at her with tears in her eyes, "I really don't know what happened, he was lying there stone cold and I walked over to him…" She sat down next to him and put his hand in hers, "…my braid…it was drawn to his…they linked…" he pulled his hand away, touching her was too dangerous. "Then my eyes deceived me, I wasn't here anymore…"

"Where were you?" She asked taking his hand back, she didn't care about the risk, she knew there was nothing to be scared of. He simply shook his head in response, he didn't really know himself, and he didn't want her to pull away.

They sat there for a long while before anyone came looking for them, they didn't talk, they didn't even look at each other, they just sat there with their hands in each other's. After awhile however, Natyiri came to collect her son, "It's time to come home son." She said with a kind outreached hand.

He reluctantly let go of Lo'mi and followed his mother home, "Is he okay?" he asked after a short time.

She nodded reassured yet confused, "He's perfect actually, all the poison seems to be gone from his system; he's lucid."

"Then why…" he began.

But she cut him off, "he was living in a dream world for so long, it's going to be a long time before he realizes what is real and what is not." Tommy saw his father standing by the hut looking around, he was a little scared to face him after his outburst. He looked up to his mother, she knew what he was feeling, "It's okay, no one will ask you to explain anything, what happened is between you, Norm, and Eywa, as far as I'm concerned what you did for Norm was brave and strong." This put a smile on Tommy's face and he walked over to his father with pride.

Word spread fast amongst the clan, by the time food was being served, and everyone gathered around the grand fire, whispers could be heard from all around the circle; whispers that stopped immediately as soon as Tommy walked in to join his parents for the meal. Everyone already treated Tommy like he was different, but this was just too much for him; as he sat down next to his parents a young Na'vi sitting to his right immediately moved ever so slightly in the other direction away from Tommy. With his mother's strong words in his head, he let all of the stares and whispers go without another thought. No matter what exactly happened, in the end whatever did happen helped Norm become whole again, for that, he was a hero.

That night he had his mother tell him the story of the balance once more, and once more the mere thought of Eywa's power made him want more from himself. Jake decided to spend the night in the hut with Norm, to keep an eye on him, in case of any changes. As he settled himself into the small space, Norm refused to talk. He looked upon everything like it was the first time he had ever seen it, touched things with the wonderment of a small child, an action that greatly pleased Jake, he had his friend back; in a way.

He fell asleep with a smile n his face, something that didn't go unnoticed to Norm. It didn't last however, an hour into a deep sleep Jake awoke with a start and felt his whole body convulse. He looked around at his surroundings and breathed a thankful breath that he was back in the small hut, he looked over at his friend who was still awake and staring back at him.

"The tree?" Norm asked, guessing what Jake's frightening dream was about. Jake nodded without a word. "Jake, we have to talk, something happened with Tommy and myself…"

"What happened?" Jake said concerned.

"I saw him, what he was going to become…Jake…he's going to do terrible things, kill people…" Norm couldn't meet Jake's eyeline, as much as it was hard for him to say, he knew it would be ten times harder for Jake to hear.

"What the hell are you talking about, Norm? What do you mean you saw him?" Jake didn't hide his anger from his voice.

"I was dreaming of that place, the one with the tree; everything was the same as every other time I dreamt of that, until I looked to my left, and suddenly Tommy was there. Jake he looked half mad… his eyes were trained on something, he was really scary looking. Then he ran up to me, went through me like I wasn't even there, and linked his braid with someone." He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words, "the person just dropped Jake, fell down dead. Tommy just stood there with his eyes closed and a smile on his face."

"It was just a dream Norm, you were still under the influence of the poison, what you saw was just your own fears coming forth." Jake said holding back his anger, he knew Norm was not trying to offend him or Tommy, there was no need to yell.

"Maybe, but why would I be subconsciously fearful of Tommy. I love your son, I always have, but that braid of his, it's not normal, it's not natural." Norm said finally looking into Jake's angry eyes.

"Did you ever think were not normal Norm, I mean we were unionized with this body that was crafted by scientists, Tommy is a miracle. Natyiri and I should have never been able to reproduce."

"It's more than that, Jake you didn't see him, it wasn't Tommy. Something was in him, he wasn't himself." Norm said.

"Even if what you're saying is true, and Tommy has some dreaded fate awaiting him; what you're talking about…no one can kill someone by making the bond with them." Jake stood and walked towards the door.

Norm nodded his head, "You're right, it's not something that has ever happened, but the Na'vi queue is something that no scientist, even Dr. Augustine fully understood."

"Leave it alone Norm, from what I can see my boy only helped heal you, you should be thanking him, not…not this." Jake left with that.

After putting her son to bed and making sure he was fully sleeping and not going to sneak out again, Natyiri had some questions that needed answering. She found Mo'at sitting outside of the new Hometree staring up at the stars, "Oe kame ngenga," she said.

Mo'at raised her hand to forehead and down, signaling the proper response, "What's on your mind child," She said looking back up at the stars.

"Tommy's incident with Norm. Mo'at something tells me there is more to what happened in that hut, Norm is better, which is wonderful, but how could that possibly be?"

"I believe Eywa has something planned for your son, what that thing is I cannot say tell?"

Translations: Oe tse'a=I see; Uniltaron=Dream Hunt; Tikawng=Evil; Ka ne'im= Go away; Kempe 'ong fìtseng= what unfolded here; Oe ra a omum= I don't know; Oe kame ngenga= I see you

Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, reviews are always welcome here.