There was a period of ease and acclimation allowed to Jake and Trudy for a few days following their rituals, where they got used to their new lives among the Omaticaya, as opposed to just spending their days there.

It wasn't much different for Jake, of course, who had already been spending his time there from the moment he awoke to when it was time for him to sleep. But it was a gesture he appreciated, as he spent those few days wandering the territory with Tsu'tey, sometimes joined by Neytiri and Trudy, feeling more at rest than he had in years.

The morning following the ritual an Omaticaya craftsman had presented Trudy with more traditional Na'vi clothing to wear, and he tried not to tease her too much when he noticed her constant fiddling with the loincloth and sparse covering over her chest.

The children had cornered her at some point and insisted on braiding her hair, delighting in weaving in brightly colored beads and feathers, much like Neytiri's.

He had mentioned it multiple times, and had mocked her mercilessly for the blush that broke out across her cheeks every time he did, that he thought she looked quite nice, the Omaticaya style suiting her strong features.

No matter how relaxing their days were, however, nothing compared to his nights dreaming with Tsu'tey. It was almost dangerous how much they enjoyed it, how much comfort they found in it, finding themselves wishing they could stay in those dreamscapes forever.

The dreams had been different every time, whether they were in Jake's childhood home or on the shores of Pandora's eastern ocean, they spent their nights walking hand in hand along the familiar landscapes, pretending to show each other around, like one wasn't just as familiar with it as the other.

It was heaven on earth, those precious moments, after so many nights of floating in an empty sea of nothingness.

Jake had the reoccurring thought, ever since that first night in the fields of Iowa, that he could handle any horror the universe had to throw at him, so long as he could continue sharing these dreams with Tsu'tey, so long as he had that escape.

-x-

It was the last night of the break in their duties, the next morning they would be flying out on a several day long journey to the Kekunan clan, and Jake found himself calmer about the prospect of the meeting than he had been the past two times.

Perhaps it was because the previous two had gone so well, some minor threats and strangling not withstanding, but Jake couldn't help but feel that his ease was coming mostly from the calming element of his nights with Tsu'tey.

He should have known that he was jinxing them by getting so comfortable with their newfound ability, as they fell asleep in each other's arms and awoke to the crackling sound of a bonfire.

This in itself might not have seemed so strange, except nothing in the landscape of these dreams had ever been... active... before, nothing to ever suggest that any one else was there in that world with them.

There had never been cars going by in the street when they were on earth, hell, they hadn't even seen evidence of animal life on either planet during these dreams, it had always been still, like a moment in time, frozen and isolated just for them.

But there they were, tall pine trees towering over them, standing inside the campground Jake had gone to with his family every fall as a child to watch the leaves change, feeling the heat from the small fire lick at their shins.

Jake was about to say something, had opened his mouth to comment on the strangeness of it, when rustling from a nearby tent stilled his heart in his chest.

The two men watched with wide eyes as the zipper to the tent slowly came undone, the flap of the entrance giving way to a figure ducking their way out into the crisp autumn air.

The person from the tent was undeniably human, only coming a little past Jake and Tsu'tey's hips once they stood from their crouched position. The person was dressed in a soft flannel button up and worn jeans, tucked into hiking boots.

Long brown hair fell over their shoulders, obscuring eyes Jake knew were the same dusty blue his own used to be.

"Oh," her voice was soft, lifting at the ends, it had always sounded like music, "I was wondering when you boys would show up," her eyes crinkled around the edges as she smiled, looking up at the two men.

"M-mom?" Jake's voice cracked, wanting to turn away from her to look at Tsu'tey, to confirm they were seeing the same thing, but his body wasn't responding to him anymore as he found himself taking a step forward, his knees nearly buckling.

Marie Sully laughed, her eyes closing and her shoulders shaking. She'd always laughed with her whole body, and it looked just how he'd remembered it.

"Is this real?" Jake asked, taking another step forward, reaching out, but couldn't bring himself to touch the woman in front of him, "are you really here?"

Marie's laughter calmed at that, offering him a small shrug, "I don't know, bug, I think so," her eyes met his, soft and a little sad around the edges, and Jake about crumbled at the silly nickname he hadn't heard in so long, "I've been here for a while, I knew I was waiting on you both."

Jake finally managed to tear his eyes away from his mother to look back at Tsu'tey, who was staring past him, his wide eyes fixed on the small woman in front of them, seemingly frozen to the spot. Jake might've thought it funny under different circumstances, but right now, he figured he probably looked just as shell shocked.

"You knew I..." he turned back to her, trying to gather his thoughts into some semblance of a coherent question, "you knew we were coming? You... you recognize me... like this?" He gestured weakly down at his body, so different from the one she had known.

Marie laughed again, "you think I wouldn't recognize my own son? Though..." she narrowed her eyes at him, searching his face for a moment, "you look a little more Tommy than Jake."

Jake felt something that might've been a laugh escape his throat, "I will never know how you do that. We looked exactly the same."

Marie shook her head, "a mother always knows, bug, now why don't you go get that man of yours before he passes out and we can all sit around the fire?"

Jake nodded, feeling a bit numb, feeling somehow like a child again despite everything, as he turned back to Tsu'tey, who still had not moved an inch.

"Come on," Jake held out his hand, and Tsu'tey took it without question, like it was instinct, "wanna meet my mom?"

Tsu'tey didn't respond, but allowed himself to be pulled the rest of the way towards the fire and sat obediently beside Jake at one of the logs situated around the fire pit, both men pressed against each other across from where Marie sat, patiently waiting for them to get settled.

"So," Marie said after a stretch, the fire light casting soft shadows over her face, "why don't you introduce me, Jake?"

He faltered for a moment, instinctively pressing in closer to Tsu'tey before he opened his mouth to speak, "mom, this is my husband, Tsu'tey... Tsu'tey, you already know my mother."

"It is," Tsu'tey choked a bit on the words as he bowed his head slightly, "a pleasure to meet you."

"A husband," Marie breathed out, her eyes crinkled in a smile as she took in the two men before her, "I never thought I'd see the day. Well... I guess I kind of didn't, but that's neither here nor there," she clapped her hands together as though to banish away the thought, "now, bug, I believe myself to be a woman of average to above average intelligence, and I seem to remember a few too many parent-teacher nights where I would have to hear all about how you spent your class periods daydreaming and drawing pictures of a boy with blue skin and golden eyes and writing a name no one had ever seen before inside hearts like you were in some after school special... would I be correct in assuming that this is that boy that got you into so much trouble?"

Jake resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands, something he might've felt more inclined to do if Tsu'tey hadn't been aware of all of those things already.

"Yes," Jake muttered, shooting his mother a glare that was instantly ignored.

"Well," Marie smiled, "good. I'm glad you found each other. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, bug..." her smile wavered for a moment, her eyes unfocusing, but she recovered quickly and fixed them both with wide, sparkling eyes, "but, we've got all night, so... why don't you two start from the beginning. I want to hear all about it."

Jake had never been able to turn down an earnest request from his mother before, and that was a fact that didn't appear to have changed with time.

It only took a little while for Tsu'tey to recover from his shock, or nerves, or both, and really all it took was Jake exaggerating a particularly embarrassing moment in Tsu'tey's childhood where he had fallen out of a tree.

"I was not frightened by a yerik, Jake, how would that even be possible? They cannot climb trees! No, what happened was-"

And Tsu'tey didn't think it was quiet so funny as to warrant Marie falling to the ground in a fit of laughter, but the tension melted from his shoulders all the same.

Once Marie recovered, returning to her seat, Jake and Tsu'tey picked up the story-telling in tandem.

They hesitated when they reached Tommy's death, but she waved them on, pain in her eyes indicating that she already knew. Jake wanted to ask how that was possible, wanted to stop and ask about all of this, where they were and how she knew so much already, but he looked into her eyes and something told him that, should he ask, she would be either unable or unwilling to give him the answers he wanted. So, instead, they powered on.

They told her all about Jake's sneaking away to find Tsu'tey, about the three of them braving Eytukan's wrath together.

They told her about Jake's fight and then friendship with Grace, about their exodus from the base.

They told her about the war they were getting ready to fight, and Jake wished he could look away from the sad look in his mother's eyes, but he forced himself to hold her gaze.

They didn't spare any details in their tale, didn't sugar coat it, didn't make themselves out to be in any less danger or any of their actions any less stupid than they were. They owed it to her, at least, to be honest.

"So, this is how you're going to look, forever?" Marie asked, they'd finished their story a while ago, silence having hung over them like smoke once it was over.

"Yeah," Jake nodded, at some point he had reached out and taken Tsu'tey's hand in his own, he gave it a squeeze as he spoke, "it was the only way we could guarantee I could live safely on Pandora for the rest of my life."

Marie hummed thoughtfully at that, "my son, a traitor to the human race... I like it, humans kind of suck."

Jake laughed, relief bleeding into his chest. Part of him had been worried she would not approve, and it eased his mind somewhat to know that she did.

"I'll tell you, that's one hell of a love story," Marie smiled widely, only growing wider at the blush the words brought to the two men's cheeks, "I'm... so proud of you, both of you. You're standing up for something when it would be so much easier to run away. It sounds like you do a good job looking out for each other, and made such good friends along the way," she paused there, staring into the fire, before continuing, "you were never happy on earth, Jake. I knew that, even if I didn't know why. Are you happy now? You seem so happy, it's like you're a completely different person."

Jake fought the tears welling in his eyes, forced himself to reply even though it felt like his throat was closing around the words as he spoke, "yeah, mom, I really am."

Marie nodded, "that's all I've ever wanted, is for you to find something that made you happy. I'm so glad," a small smile tugged at her lips as she stood from her seat, stepping around the fire to stand in front of Jake, eye level now that he was sitting and she was standing.

Jake watched, tears breaking from his eyes to roll down his cheeks, as his mother reached out to frame his face as best she could with her small hands, the pads of her thumbs swiping up to break the track of tears, "I always said you boys had freckles like constellations... now look at you, you've got stars on your face, bug."

A sob tore from Jake's chest as she shifted her hands to tangle in his braids, to run a careful finger over his pointed ears, softly shushing him as she ran gentle touches over his features, as though to memorize them, familiarize herself with his strange new face.

She pulled back from him after a moment, turning her head to stare off into the distance, focusing on something neither Jake nor Tsu'tey could see or hear.

"It's about time for you boys to wake up," she said, trying to hide her frown behind a smile, but it was still there in her eyes.

Without warning, she reached out once more and pulled both men into her, wrapping her arms around their necks, pressing them close to her.

"Will we ever see you again?" Jake asked, whispering into her hair as he stared past her, into the dark tree line, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

She was quiet for a beat, her fingers flexing against the base of their spines, "I don't know... I think so... she told me..." Marie huffed out a breath, seeming to rethink her words before continuing, "you will be given these dreams before times of struggle. Something tells me you two will face many struggles in your lives, so I would think... I would think we'll see each other again."

"Oh, good," Jake rolled his eyes, shoving down the emotions threatening to rip him apart, "does that mean this next Olo'eyktan is actually going to strangle me this time?"

He felt Tsu'tey stiffen at his side, and Marie pulled away from them with a strained laugh, stepping back to look at them, her eyes glossy, "I don't think your husband thinks you're very funny, bug."

"He is not funny," Tsu'tey muttered, his mouth setting in a stern line, until Jake was pressing against his side once more, and he couldn't help but to soften just a bit around the edges.

"Alright, you two," Marie clapped her hands, smiling despite the tears in the corners of her eyes, "it's time to go."

Jake wanted to argue, he hadn't seen his mother in over a decade, he didn't want to let her go again. He looked at her, into her soft eyes, her face barely lined with age, only slightly older than he was now, and Jake thought it so cruel that he be given this time with her only to have to leave so soon.

"Now," Marie said, turning her gaze into Tsu'tey, locking their eyes, "don't let him sulk, when he gets sad, he lets it take him over sometimes."

"I... I know," it was all Tsu'tey could manage to say, but Marie smiled at him all the same.

"Yes," She said, the tears she had managed to keep at bay for so long spilling from her eyes, "yes, of course you do."

"Mom," Jake started, but Marie held up a hand to silence him.

"It's time to go, bug," she gave them a watery smile, "I love you so much. I promise..." her voice broke, but she continued on as the edges of the dream began to fade, "I promise, we'll see each other again."

"I love you," Jake called out, the dream fading away completely as the last syllable fell from his lips.

They awoke to the cool morning air, but they could still feel the warmth of the fire and his mother's arms, and it was all Tsu'tey could do to hold Jake as he cried against his chest.