Note:"Avavtar" is not mine. This chapter was harder to write and I thank you all for your patience. I did not want to make everything easy for them and I tried to avoid the "he saves her so she automatically is head over heels for him" story while trying to build the love they are finding for each other. I hope you enjoy! -Fallon.

Chapter Seven.

Tsu'tey leaned against a tree near the clearing where he had trained Ma'tirea. He had left her with the healers, desperately needing time to think. With Neytiri assuring him she would find him as soon as Ma'tirea woke, he left the healing pools to be out of their way.

When he brought her back to hometree, part of him didn't want to let her go. He smiled slightly, remembering her curled up against him and quickly pushed the memory away. She wanted to go flying with the loud female and he had handled the situation wrong and as a result, had probably pushed her further away. He had only wanted to protect her but ended up yelling that he didn't give a damn about her. Tsu'tey couldn't help but feel that he deserved the smack she had given him.

After all the time he spent with her, training her in the very clearing he now stood in, he had never called her by name. He could tell she continued to work hard despite that but in return he gave her nothing but cold words and angry glares. She had held her tongue well the entire time, until the hurt boiled over and she left a stinging pain on his face. He wondered what she would say to him when she woke...

He expected anger and resentment, but as long as she was going to be alright it didn't matter. He cared about her and he couldn't tell himself any differently without lying...saying it however was another matter. And she had cared about him, had said so after she smacked him, but how could she now after the hurt he had caused her?

"Tsu'tey."

He turned and saw Neytiri approaching him. "Is she going to be alright?"

Neytiri nodded, "Her wounds will heal, she'll be scarred but alive. Ma'tirea is awake if you want to see her."

"I will allow her to rest tonight..." He spoke as he grabbed his bow, turning to leave towards the hometree and the hammock that was calling to him. Neytiri nodded to the warrior, "Do find her in the morning Tsu'tey, she said that she needed to speak with you."

He bid farewell to Neytiri and ascended the hometree.

Ma'tirea lay awake in a hammock-like structure low to the ground near a shallow pond. The healer hovered around her, making more of a vile smelling healing paste to apply to her gashes. Above the pools, giant leaves hung to provide shelter to it's occupants. The healers had given her a thick liquid made from the roots of crushed plants that dulled her pain and allowed her to lay down with some level of comfort.

She hadn't been awake long but she had already been visited by various members of the clan who gave her their blessing before they returned to their hammocks. Rina'rey sat with her now, carefully touching the bandage on her thigh. The loud female had already filled her in with what had happened in her absense and how happy the clan was that she was alive. Ma'tirea smiled as she listened to her friend chatter on, politely nodding at the excited female.

"You told Neytiri that you had to speak to Tsu'tey, why sister?"

"He saved my life..."

"I do not know of his motivations sister. Either he saved you because he does care about you or because you were his responsibility and he worried Neytiri and olo'eyktan would be angry with him. I do not want you hurt further my sister." Rina'rey touched her shoulder and smiled sadly. Ma'tirea sighed, her sister did have a point but she shook her head and refused to believe it. "I know there is good in him, he allows me to see glimpses of it. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry sister."

Rina'rey smiled, "You always look for the best in all of our brothers and sisters, I only hope you are right." She lovingly squeezed Ma'tirea's hand before exiting through the huge leaves. The healer entered carrying a leaf plate full of various plants and roots. Ma'tirea groaned at the sight of the plate.

"Come now Ma'tirea, Eywa's gifts will heal you quickly!" Swireya spoke quickly as she gathered a few plants and crushed them together. "We'll get those cuts tended to and then all you can do is rest." She unwrapped the covering on her thigh and inspected the wound. "Your youth is helping you sister, after a day of tending it is already less angry looking."

"Tsu'tey put something on it when he found me."

Swireya hummed to herself and nodded, "That helped you greatly then. Rest here tonight, until the wound closes you must keep this on it." She handed her a pouch full of the paste, "And keep the bandage tight for now. You have an awful bump on your head, so for a while you must take things slow. The wound down your face will heal very well too, do not worry."

Ma'tirea thanked the healer and shifted in her hammock, thanking Eywa her wounds were on the mend.

Pulling herself from the hammock, Ma'tirea clean and re-bandaged her thigh before making an attempt to stand. Taking a deep breath, she held on to the hammock as her feet touched the ground. After a few moments standing well without aid, she took a few slow steps and smiled. Her head was still throbbing but Swireya arrived with another vile-smelling liquid that eased the dizziness that rang in her head like a drum. The healer helped her into clean clothes and she grabbed the pouch she had been given before heading for the exit in the leaves.

"Do not push yourself sister!" Swireya urged as she left. Ma'tirea turned and thanked the healer, assuring her she would not do anything strenuous before letting the morning light embrace her. She moved slowly, not wanting to send her head into a dizzying spiral but not wanting to spend days in the healing pools. As she walked, her hand stayed on her wounded thigh and she realized she had a noticeable but not agonizing limp. Not able to put much pressure on her leg, she contented herself with just walking around hometree and watching the children play.

Ma'tirea did not mind not being able to run, she found herself enjoying her surroundings more and knew with time she would be running and jumping in the trees once again. She decided to head to the training grounds as it was the best place to start looking for Tsu'tey. Sadly, her thoughts returned to what Rina'rey had said the night before. When she was lost on the riverbank all she wanted was to see him again, even if that meant having to hear his angry comments and face his seemingly constant disapproval. Now, in the safety of her home, she was not sure why he had come after her.

She was alive, whatever his motivations were he had saved her and asking why could just hurt her. After all, she considered him a friend and cared for him...but she did not love him. Love Tsu'tey...she sighed as the thought entered and remained etched in her mind. Yet here she was, limping around trying to find a stupid male who could always be counted on to find a flaw in whatever she did. She breathed in and tried to relax, remembering her "dream" on the bank of the river.

Moving slowly, she made her way through a thin gathering of trees on the edge of the clearing careful not to trip on an exposed root. The trees opened onto an archery range and she spotted Tsu'tey training younglings. Not wanting to interrupt, she stayed out of the way and watched. The lesson ended with the snapping of bow strings.

"Enough, leave now before you embarrass yourselves further!" Tsu'tey growled at the students, who ran quickly past Ma'tirea towards the larger clearing. Tsu'tey stared at her momentarily before grabbing the broken bows from the tall grass.

"I see you Tsu'tey." She spoke softly as she limped towards him. He nodded towards her but said nothing, preferring instead to throw the bows angrily in a pile. He turned back to her and she was taken back by how sad his eyes were. "Do I look that bad?" She laughed, grabbing one of the broken bows and slowly sat down to begin the repairs. Ma'tirea focused her attention on the broken bow but smiled when she heard him sit down beside her in the grass.

"You do not hate me?"

She sat the mended bow down in front of her. "I do not hate my friends." He nodded slowly and let his gaze fall over the dark bruises that covered her shoulder and arm. "I am sorry for my words before you left with Normspellman, I spoke lies..."

She turned to face him, her navy braids falling forward as she smirked. "Let's agree that we're both sorry and that we both forgive each other." Tsu'tey thought about what she said for a moment but quickly smiled and nodded in agreement. "I can do that."

Ma'tirea spent the rest of her day with Rina'rey and Normspellman, watching the children play on the low hanging vines. She felt good about her talk with Tsu'tey but still found herself thinking about him after she had left the range to find Rina'rey. Thinking quickly, she had said she had to find the loud female but in truth, Tsu'tey's gaze made her cheeks warm. She watched from the corner of her eye as he entered the jungle with the rest of a hunting party, watching his tail sway back and forth and the muscles of his legs and back contract with every movement...

"Ma'tirea?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face a confused Rina'rey. Behind her, Normspellman eyed her strangely as well. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Not love, she told herself, I do not love him! A group of stern looking young males walked past them, all trying to impress the nearby single females. One of them glared right at Ma'tirea as he hurried to join his brothers. His golden-amber eyes fell over her from under the tangled mane of long black braids and Ma'tirea shifted in her seat.

Rina'rey smiled as she eyed a male that wore numerous feathers in his hair. "I hope Naringay asks me to be his mate, he is a skilled hunter." She whispered at Ma'tirea after they had passed. Normspellman huffed beside them, obviously annoyed by the choice of subject. "Come now Normspellman, if you're so annoyed then why don't you go and speak with Eyrina?" Rina'rey teased, putting a stop to his huffing.

Ma'tirea laughed softly from her spot beside Rina'rey but remained nerved by the amber-eyed male.