Sya'o stood at the mouth of an alcove in the body of Hometree, its entrance shaded by a wall of vines, "The Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk are expecting you," she said when Jake hesitated at the entrance, his hand shaking slightly as he moved to push the vines aside.
He offered the woman a slight nod in thanks, though he felt slightly less than thankful as he made his way into the dimly lit room. Eytukan and Mo'at sat along the back wall of the alcove, their legs crossed, watching as Jake allowed the vines to fall back into place behind him.
He hoped the polite greeting he meant to say made its way past his lips as he took another few steps into the alcove before sinking to his knees, sitting quietly in front of them, his head bowed.
"Jake-Sully," Mo'at spoke, "it has come to my attention that you have completed your bond with Tsu'tey."
Jake sat staring dumbly at the bark beneath his hands as he processed her words, horror flooding his veins as a deep blue blush bloomed across his cheeks. He looked up at the woman in front of him, manners forgotten, as he searched her face for what possible reason they could have to bring him in here to discuss that. Were they angry? Was he about to be thrown out of the clan? How did she even know?
"If you wish for me not to know of these events in the future," Mo'at said, her voice never changing from the calm even tone she had begun with, though there was a crinkling at the edge of her eyes, and Jake was suddenly reminded that this was Neytiri's mother like a slap in the face, "you should chose a less spiritual location."
At the words, Jake's whole body seemed to release its tension that had been fit to snap him in two, his head dropping once more, "yes, my apologies."
"Jake-Sully," Eytukan spoke, an edge to his voice almost indicating apology at his obvious stress, "with this maturation of your bond, you and Tsu'tey are to be bound for life, this is something you know and accept?"
Jake nodded without hesitation.
"In accordance with our customs, you are now a member of the Omaticaya tribe," Jake's eyes widened at the words, but stayed silent as the man continued, "not only this, but your bond with Tsu'tey means that you will one day sit alongside him when he becomes Olo'eyktan, you will be a leader to our people, as is the will of Eywa. Is this a responsibility you are prepared to accept?"
The weight of the words should have felt heavy on Jake, but this was a reality some part of him had realized already, and he had come to accept that so long as he was beside Tsu'tey, he wouldshoulder any responsibility that was asked of him.
"I am prepared to stand beside Tsu'tey," Jake spoke, his head still bowed, "I will accept any responsibility in order to be by his side and aid the Omaticaya people."
"Very well," Eytukan spoke evenly, a weight lifting from his shoulders that Jake was not to know, "raise your head, my son. Your people welcome you."
Jake looked up into the eyes of the man before him, the fear he had felt before lifting slightly, "May I speak openly?" he asked, silently begging them not to take offense to his request.
"You may," Eytukan said with a nod, and a slight quirk of an eyebrow.
"I know that you are aware of the Sky People and their past discretions," Jake spoke carefully, seeing the shadows of anger flare behind Eytukan's eyes, "but I believe they will soon try something worse than before, I believe they will try and remove us from our territory, by whatever violence they have at their disposal."
"I fled the Sky People's base with the help of a few trusted companions, we are hidden in the mountains where they cannot find us. We do not have a plan to stop them yet," Jake grimaced at the admission, "but we are working to try and learn of their plans and we will do whatever necessary in order to keep the Sky People away."
Jake watched as the two figures in front of him turned to each other, seeming to speak among themselves silently, before Mo'at rose from where she sat. She walked towards Jake, who had to fight the urge not to flinch away, as she reached out her hand to gently cup his cheek.
"You have done well to protect your tribe thus far," she spoke softly, the sound of it easing some of the tension Jake had built back up in his chest, "we extend our thanks to your companions, who have aided in keeping you safe."
Jake nodded slightly, overwhelmed by the gentle affection he had not expected, until an image of Norm and his peace offering flooded his mind, and the idea he had begun to entertain that morning entered his thoughts once more.
"I ask this, knowing it is too much, knowing I have not earned the right to ask for such things," Mo'at's thumb soothed against his cheek bone, calming his thoughts, "I owe my companions a debt, they have assisted me beyond their means, putting their lives at risk, turning against their own people. You know of one of them, her name is Grace," Mo'at nodded down at him, acknowledging the name, so he continued, "I know of the Omaticaya's feelings towards her, trust me, I feel anger towards her myself… but I have seen her love for the Omaticaya people, and I truly believe she mourns for her mistakes and wishes to atone for them. So, I ask you to consider, though I know I have no right to do so, to allow Grace and one other companion to walk among the Omaticaya as Dreamwalkers once more."
Mo'at broke her eye contact with him to look back at Eytukan, who's face betrayed none of his thoughts to Jake, before turning back to gaze down at him once more, "Tell Grace and your other companion that they are permitted onto Omaticaya territory. Tell them a scouting group will meet them as soon as they enter our land and their safe passage will be guaranteed, as thanks for their efforts to protect a member of our tribe."
"Thank you," Jake released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.
"Go now, join Tsu'tey and Neytiri, who would do well not to listen to conversations that are not theirs, in the future." Mo'at spoke loudly, not allowing the smile she allowed Jake to see to enter her voice.
She stepped back to permit Jake to rise to his feet and offer them a deeper bow than was required, before exiting the alcove, where, sure enough, Tsu'tey and Neytiri stood, pretending they had not just been scolded.
-x-
The trio walked in relative silence back down the spirals of Hometree, broken only by Tsu'tey quietly informing Jake that they had sent the hunting party on without them.
It wasn't until they had reached the forest floor, well away from the alcove and the apparently ever listening ears of Mo'at before Jake spoke, "I'm sorry," he resisted the urge to sink against Tsu'tey, suddenly exhausted, "I should've said something about asking permission for Grace and Norm to come here, I just started considering it this morning, and it all happened so fast."
"It is fine," Neytiri stopped him before he could continue rambling, "I do not mind, if you trust them, then I trust them."
"Yes," Tsu'tey agreed, taking hold of Jake's hand in an effort to ground him, "I have watched them, and I agree that I believe they hold true care for our people."
"Speaking of our people," Neytiri grinned, breaking the heaviness of the conversation, "you are an Omaticaya! We must celebrate!"
"Jake will most likely need to return to Grace and Norm to explain the situation to them," Tsu'tey rebuked, though Jake didn't miss how the other man had squeezed his hand slightly at her words.
"We could go for a ride on the pa'lis," Jake said, smiling, "it's barely midday, as long as I'm back by late afternoon, it'll be fine."
"As you wish," Tsu'tey brought Jake's hand up to his face, barely brushing his knuckles with his lips, but it was enough to end shivers down Jake's spine.
"You are both gross," Neytiri pretended to gag, before leading them to the pa'lis, her faux disgust betrayed by the smile pulling at her lips as she turned from them.
-x-
"You're back early," Grace couldn't wipe the surprise and worry from her face as Jake rounded the corner, greeted by the sight of the three other occupants of the unit sitting around a small table, "everything okay?"
"Yeah," Jake tried to quiet the anxiety clawing at his throat, he made eye contact with Grace, who seemed to gather that Jake had news, and that news was requiring him to admit his circumstances in some degree, and she offered him a slight nod of support before he continued, "I spoke to Mo'at and Eytukan today, and they agreed to let your avatars onto their territory."
"Are you serious?" Grace blanched, having obviously steeled herself for bad news.
"How?" Norm asked, having stood from his chair, his eyes wide, "you've barely been there a few days, how did you convince them to let us in?"
Jake looked at Grace again, breathing deeply. He'd discussed this with Tsu'tey before returning, and they had agreed that it would be best to tell Norm about their bond in whatever way Jake thought he'd understand it, seeing as he'd hear tell of it anyway once he was among the Omaticaya.
"The Na'vi have a bond," Jake wrung his hands together, hyperaware of the undivided attention that was on him, "called tì'i'avay krrä yawntu. It's a very rare bond between mates created by Eywa," Jake tried to recall the words Tsu'tey had used to describe it to him, "made specifically for each other, blessed with visions when they are apart."
"And you believe all this mumbo jumbo?" Trudy asked, ignoring the glare Grace sent her way.
"I've known about the Omaticaya, about the Na'vi, about Pandora, since I was a child," Jake soldiered on, "whenever I'd fall asleep, I'd see them, my mate, and whatever they were doing. I never really believed it, until I saw Grace during the dreams, and I found out about the Avatar Program. When my brother died, they asked me to come here and take his place, and so," Jake gestured weakly to himself, "here I am."
"Wait, wait, wait," Norm shook his head, "so when we thought you were getting chased by thantors."
"I had to get away so I could get to Omaticaya territory," Jake said, encouraged somewhat that Norm at least seemed to believe him.
"And your… mate?"
"Knew I was coming," Jake said with a small smile despite himself, "met me at the edge of the territory."
"And they just let you stroll on in, no questions asked?" Norm asked, his eyes wide.
"They weren't exactly pleased about it," Jake admonished, "but they couldn't deny the bond."
"So you were," Norm stuttered, pressing his hands against his eyes, "like literally born to be here?"
"Uh," Jake paused at the almost accusatory tone behind the question, "if you want to put it that way."
"That still doesn't…" Norm began pacing madly back and forth in the small room, "that still doesn't explain how you convinced the Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk to let us in to their territory."
"It's a gesture of thanks for… helping to keep a member of the Omaticaya tribe safe," Jake said the words carefully, regarding Norm like a caged animal.
"I swear to god," Norm breathed out into his hands, "if you tell me they consider you a member of their tribe…"
"As of last night, they do," Jake said, torn between worry that Norm was going to throw him out into the poisonous atmosphere and frustration that he was having to explain more than was strictly necessary.
"What in the world could have happened over the course of last night that made them consider you a member of their clan?" Norm was all but yelling.
"Norm," Grace warned, but Jake's temper flared.
"I consummated my bond," Jake bit out, looking Norm square in the eye as he said it.
"You…" Norm's face reddened from anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure, "you had sex, and suddenly you're a member of their tribe. You get to watch home video of Pandora pipped directly into your brain every night, learn the language and everything about their people by pure chance, get put on this project by pure chance, wander around the woods like an idiot until your space girlfriend, your motherfucking soulmate, finds you… then you get to fuck her in the woods and overnight become an honorary member of the Omaticaya tribe?"
"Norm, calm the fuck down," Grace yelled over him, but Jake cut her off with a look.
"Not that it's any of your business," Jake spoke evenly, despite the anger building sick and hot in his chest, "but since you're going to find out anyway and since you've already decided that life isn't fair, I'll have you know that my mate is Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan, the finest warrior and the future Olo'eyktan of the Omaticaya tribe."
Norm's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but Jake continued "and you can call it chance or dumb luck, I call it me doing everything I have had to do to get me to this point, to protect him and to protect these people. I don't really give a shit if you think it's fair, it's not fair that Quaritch wants to drive these people from their land for the resources beneath their feet, but that's why we're goddamn out here."
"Be pissed about it, I don't care, I did this for Grace, because when Grace found out, she brought us out here where they couldn't touch me, where they couldn't use me against Tsu'tey. She just brought you along. I thought you might get it, I thought you might respect it, thought you might respect me, but apparently I was wrong."
He felt Grace's hand on his shoulder, and he allowed himself to take a calming breath, "tomorrow morning, a scouting party will find you once you enter Omaticaya territory." He fixed Norm with one last withering look, the man already folding in on himself where he'd backed against storage containers, "I did this as a courtesy, to thank you for your help, don't make me regret it."
At that, he turned, heading towards the bunks, too tired to have any more conversations for the day.