Chapter 1

"The forests of Pandora hold many dangers. But the most dangerous thing about Pandora… is that you may grow to love her too much.

"We sing the song chord to remember. Each bead a story in our life."

Neytiri sat, legs crossed in front of her, hands dutifully weaving tiny beads on several leather chords. A smile stretched across her lips, eyes alight as she finished the last knot. She set it down next to her, hands drifting towards her belly, round with new life.

"A bead for the birth of our son."

They gathered, forming a tight circle around the raised mound on which stood their Olo'eyktan, Toruk Makto, Jake Sully and Tsahìk Mo'at. In the gentle hands of Jake was his first son, held aloft as the new father proudly called out the child's name.

"Neteyam!"

"Two more beads for our adopted daughters, Kiri'te and Niri'te. Twins. To the Na'vi, the concept of twins was unimaginable; never before had it happened. Which leads us to where our two miracles came from.

"The girls were born of Grace's Avatar. Though at first we only knew of one of the girls, we were too shocked by Grace's uninhabited Avatar being pregnant that we didn't notice the fainter heartbeat that echoed little Kiri'te's. It took us months to notice that there was a second child, barely holding onto the delicate threads of a life that had yet to begin.

"The science guys did what they could till the girls were born. Immediately, little Kiri'te began to wail as she was passed to and from one lab tech to another, being cleaned, weighed, and examined. Once little Kiri'te was calmed and wrapped in a bundle of blankets resting in Neytiri's arms, were we waiting for little Niri'te.

"It had felt like hours, and the techs were getting anxious. But finally, finally, little Niri'te was born. And as expected, she was much smaller and weaker than Kiri'te. Little Niri'te was barely hanging on, her breaths shallow and her eyes firmly shut. I knew that Neytiri was on edge when she didn't hear little Niri'te start to cry like Kiri'te. She knew that something was wrong.

"It had taken weeks for her to be able to breathe on her own and even longer to open her eyes. By the time Kiri'te and Neteyam were happily babbling away, she struggled to sit upright and keep her meals down.

"But what scared us the most was her tswin, it was shorter than the other two children, and the tendrils at the end were barely responding to the stimulation given by the lab techs examining her. They said that she might never be able to fully use her tswin, even when she was fully grown, if she ever got to that point."

The new family sat around a fire, each holding a child as they ate. Neteyam was cradled in the crook of Neytiri's arm, Kiri'te resting on Jake's shoulder, and Niri'te swaddled in a blanket in Tsu'tey's arms. Now, this wasn't a surprising sight, for Tsu'tey had all but fallen in love once his eyes landed on the small babe. Rarely was he seen without little Niri'te bundled in his arms as he went about his day; he barely even let her parents hold her. The people didn't know why the warrior had taken such a liking to the sickly child.

But Tsu'tey wasn't bothered by their stares and whispers; he was used to them, after all. During the Fall of Home Tree and the battle afterwards, Tsu'tey was injured. His leg was burned when he was evacuating people from the burning Home Tree, and later on, towards the end of the battle with the sky demons, he suffered a great loss. A soldier of the Sky People found him bleeding by the roots of a colossal tree. He wasn't able to stop the demon as it reached for his tswin, grabbing it harshly in its disgusting five-fingered hand while the other brought a small but wicked-looking knife closer. Tsu'tey had to close his eyes, for he couldn't handle looking at what was to come.

In one harsh swipe, Tsy'tey's tswin was severed.

He couldn't describe the rush of feelings that coursed through him. But it was the overwhelming feeling of numbness that overtook him that scared him more than the prospect that he might die at the hands of a sky demon. He waited for the final blow, but it never came. Instead, he heard the dull thud of an arrow making its home in its latest victim.

He opened his eyes lazily, gazing up at the figure approaching him. Once they came close enough for his bleary eyes to focus on, his breath was stolen away.

Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon. Her bright green eyes were wide and frantic from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She was crouched down low, her longbow clutched tightly in her hand, her arm still raised from where it had released the arrow.

Ninat came closer to him, her eyes now bright in sorrow and horror at what she saw. Tsu'tey's tswin was lying at his feet, clutched in the repulsive five-fingered hand of a sky demon.

She looked back at him, a silent question on her face, but Tsu'tey wouldn't– couldn't answer it. He didn't want to accept his new reality. The one where he would never again feel the warm embrace of the Great Mother, never again would he be able to bond with his ikran or pa'li, never would he be able to form the sacred bond with his mate, if he ever got one, with how he looked now, he doubted it severely.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. His mate, Ninat, was crouched beside him, two bowls of food expertly held in one hand. He quickly took one from her, careful not to spill anything on little Niri'te.

He didn't know how Ninat came to love him; he was always short-tempered and now even more so with his severed tswin. He became many things after his injury, and loveable wasn't on that list. But then came Ninat, and she took that list, crossed everything out and wrote loved at the very top, and he couldn't be more grateful for her.

His nìhona lawr– sweet melody.

"A bead for the first communion with Eywa."

They gathered again, around the Tree of Souls, singing the Song of New Life. Their voices melded together as one, great, harmonious being. There, in front of the Tree, stood three people, each holding a small babe.

Tshaìk Mo'at walked between them, placing a delicate hand on each child as she passed, humming along with the people.

"The people say we live in Eywa, and that Eywa lives in us. The Great Mother holds all her children in her heart."

Together the three of them held the children closer to the low-hanging branch; Tshaìk Mo'at gently took their tswin and placed it on the branch. When she came to little Niri'te, who was held closer to the branch than the other two, she prayed. She prayed to the Great Mother that this little miracle would be able to feel Her tender embrace, that the little one would be able to rest in Her arms and feel how much the Great Mother loves her.

Slowly she brought little Niri'te's tswin to the branch, the weak tendrils spreading out as they clung loosely. She looked at Tsu'tey, who was holding the child dearly, his eyes never leaving her little face. Tshaìk Mo'at could tell the moment little Niri'te was embraced by the Great Mother, for Tsu'tey's face broke out in the brightest grin she had ever seen the stoic warrior have. He huffed a weak laugh, a stronger one following the first. Oh, how she had missed his laugh.

"Happiness is simple…

"The Great Mother had blessed me; She gave me a family in Neytiri and our three beautiful children. Though it only felt like we had two since Tsu'tey refused to have us hold little Niri'te too long. I could tell it was weighing on Neytiri, not being able to hold her daughter.

"But she knew that little Niri'te brought Tsu'tey a certain happiness that she hadn't seen in so long. So she let him have her, but she made it very clear to him that little Niri'te was our daughter and that, at some point, she would have to be given back.

"Tsu'tey had just nodded his head in understanding before he turned and left, little Niri'te in his arms."

Tsu'tey adored little Niri'te. He didn't care that her mother was of the Sky People or that her father was cowardly enough not to claim this little miracle as his daughter. And his mate, Ninat, could never get enough of the sweet music that was little Niri'te's laugh. She would sing softly to the babe, rocking the child back and forth in her arms, watching her eyes drift close, and she fell asleep.

Once little Niri'te's eyes had drifted shut, Ninat brought her to where Neteyam and Kiri'te were lying, fast asleep. Gently putting Niri'te down next to her sister, she straightened and watched as the babes peacefully slept. She didn't know how long she stood there before little Kiri'te began to squirm, arms and legs stretching out and pulling back in as she managed to push herself away from Niri'te, who was still asleep.

Before Ninat could pick her up to calm her, little Neteyam opened his eyes, looked at Kiri'te, who was still squirming away from Niri'te, saw that she was starting to cry, and did the same himself. Now Ninat had two crying babies on her hands while the third kept sleeping like nothing was happening.

At the sounds of the crying babes, Neytiri came into the room. Once she figured out what was wrong, she scooped up Neteyam, leaving Ninat to deal with a still squirming Kiri'te, who had managed to roll onto the spot where Neteyam just was, further away from her sister.

Neteyam was calmed quicker than Kiri'te, already back in bed, eyes getting heavy as Neytiri sang softly to him. Ninat was still trying to calm Kiri'te, but nothing she was doing seemed to do anything besides agitate Kiri'te more.

"Neytiri, she's not calming down; I have tried everything." Ninat was getting desperate and frustrated, which is not a very good combination while handling a baby. Neytiri looked up at her; Neteyam was asleep again.

"Maybe she is hungry; she refused to eat when we were feeding Neteyam."

Taking Kiri'te from her arms, Neytiri left the room. Presumably, to go feed little Kiri'te.

It was times like these when Ninat was actually glad she didn't have children of her own.

"Happiness is simple. Who would have thought a jarhead like me could break the code?"

Jake grunted as he splashed water at little Kiri'te, who squealed and ran behind Neteyam, peeking out from behind his shoulder. Neteyam playfully hissed at his father as he stuck an arm out, protecting Kiri'te from him. Jake crouched low, slowly making his way to the two, hands swishing in the water. The two backed up until they got into the deeper part of the pool before Jake launched at them, making them trip over each other and topple back into the water.

He heard the sweet giggle of Niri'te as she and little Lo'ak splashed around in the shallow area overseen by Neytiri. The two weren't big enough to go deeper like their other siblings, even though Niri'te was the same age as Kiri'te and Neteyam.

The lab techs had said that little Niri'te's growth would be a bit stunted, but the new parents didn't know that it would be this bad.

Neteyam, Kiri'te and Niri'te were all six years old, and little Lo'ak was almost five, but it looked like Niri'te was closer in age to Lo'ak than the other two. Although the kids knew that Niri'te was older than she looked, they still treated her like the baby of the family, even if that position was Lo'ak's.

"Before I knew it, we had five little bodies running around."

They had to get a bigger swaynivi because their family was growing so fast. The family was piled on top of each other; the children huddled around the parents.

Neteyam had decided that shoving his little body underneath his parents' heads, acting like their squirming blue pillow, was a good idea. He would soon regret the idea when his legs were getting numb under the weight of his mother, but he knew he couldn't move lest he wakes little Tuktirey, the newest member of their already big family.

Under his father's arm was Lo'ak with his head resting on Jake's shoulder while he had an arm thrown over Kiri'te, who had been insisting on being called Kiri for a while now. She was sprawled across their father's legs; head cradled in his large hand. Then there was Niri'te, smushed underneath Neytiri's arm, her pale fingers twirling the soft hairs on little Tuktirey's head, a lazy smile on her face as she started to drift off.

"We sent the Sky People back to Earth, and few of them stayed. The science guys, loyal to the Na'vi."

Lo'ak and Niri'te were wandering in the labs of the friendly Sky People. They were looking for their father's Avatar friend, Mr Norm. Their father had said to call him that, even if Mr Norm had insisted on not being called that, but their father had insisted that the two children should still call him Mr Norm. He had said it was a sign of respect after he had fought so bravely with them against the Sky People.

And with that, his fate was sealed as every Sully child he came across would call him Mr Norm, and that being said, it was a lot.

Now the reason the two children were wandering the labs, was that it was time for Niri'te's check-up. She's been having them for as long as she can remember. Every few times each month, she would be taken to Mr Norm, and his Sky Person friend and they would do all sorts of things. Her least favourite was when they stuck a little white stink with a fluffy tip up her nose, it made her eyes water, and it felt like they were poking at the back of her skull.

Though recently, they have been focusing more on her tswin, asking her all these questions, if she could feel when they did this, can she tell them what happens when they do that, all those kinds of stuff. She knew they wouldn't do it today because they did that the last time she was with her mother and grandmother.

"Mr Norm!"

The man in question turned around with a thick stack of papers in his hands. He smiled at the two, looking them up and down. He noticed the certain lack of breathing packs that were mandatory for the Na'vi that came into the labs. They had learned a while back that Na'vi were able to breathe the more oxygenised air that the humans breathe, but after a while, they would become dizzy, their bodies not accustomed to the lighter air.

Norm narrowed his eyes before he spoke, "Where are your breathing packs?"

The two children's eyes widened comically as they rushed back to the entrance, where a couple of breathing packs hung from a steel rack. They came back with them slung over their tiny shoulders, Lo'ak already taking a deep breath from his pack.

Norm sighed as he set the papers down, gesturing with his hand for the two kids to follow. He led them to the usual room where Niri'te had her check-ups. She hopped on the table before Norm got the chance to tell her to.

He busied himself with getting all his equipment before he turned around and saw Niri'te and Lo'ak pulling faces at each other. Norm cleared his throat, startling the two children. He gave them both a look before Lo'ak settled on the sole chair in the room, attentive eyes watching him as Norm began his check-up.

He did the usual checking of the eyes, listening of the lungs, and prodded in her mouth a little to check for cavities. After that, he started to examine her skin. It was still pale, it hadn't darkened as she aged, like the rest of her siblings, but that wasn't too much of a concern as of now. He gently brought her tswin from behind her, fingers carefully poking at the pale pink tendrils.

He was aware that the last check-up primarily consisted of checking her tswin, but it had become a sort of habit for him to give it a once over. It was still a bit short, her hair braided securely around it; nothing seemed to be wrong with it. He then went on to look at her hands, looking to see if they were developing properly. Norm had always thought it strange that despite being twins, only Kiri inherited her mother's four fingers and slim eyebrows, while Niri'te had the traditional three fingers and no eyebrows in sight.

Norm started rubbing at her joints when a commotion was heard outside. Lo'ak immediately jumped up and dashed out of the room; his breathing pack was left abandoned on the chair.

"And then there was Spider… he was just stuck there. Too young for a cryo capsule. Orphaned by the war, he was raised by the lab guys."

Outside their room, just at the end of the hall, was a human boy. He was screaming and kicking at the other lab techs like they were about to kill him. But obviously, they weren't; they were just trying to get the boy to wear anything other than that raggedy loincloth he always insisted on wearing.

He saw Max trying to grab Spider's arm, but the little boy ducked underneath it and jabbed at the back of Max's knee, causing him almost to topple over and squash Spider under him.

Amanda, a biologist that stayed behind, was able to grab his arm, pulling away and into another room, calling to the other two scientists that were trying to wrangle Spider. They hurried after her into the room and quickly shut the door behind them, making sure that Spider won't run away.

"Who was that?" asked a soft voice. He felt a small hand wrap around his fingers. He looked down and saw Niri'te looking at the closed door worriedly.

"That was Spider," Norm sighed, "He was left here after the war."

He felt the little hand tighten.

"Where are his sa'sem?"

He looked down, Niri'te's golden yellow eyes boring into his. He looked back to the door. Spider was still screaming.

"His parents are dead 'eveng, they died fighting."

He heard a little gasp and looked down again. Niri'te's eyes were watering a little.

"Oh,"

"He wasn't part of our family. He was like a stray cat. Just always around. And he was inseparable from our kids."

Kiri, Neteyam and Lo'ak were playing with Spider. After the incident in the lab, Lo'ak had gone looking for the boy and asked him if he wanted to play with them. Spider had nodded his head so vigorously that he was sure it would snap off at any moment.

The four children were play fighting, Neytiri watching over them. At the same time, Jake kept Niri'te and Tuktirey busy by showing them loreyu, spiralling shoot-like plants that quickly shrunk into themselves with the slightest touch.

When it seemed that little Tuktirey was keeping herself enough by running between the plants, then waiting for them to come back out before she ran through them again, repeating the process, Jake approached Niri'te.

"Hey neympin, why don't you go play with the others? I'm sure they wouldn't mind," Jake had noticed the lack of interaction between his older children, which suspiciously started after Lo'ak had invited Spider to play with them.

He wasn't so sure as to why this was, but he didn't want a rift opening between his children, for he knew that the only thing that brought was hurt. He and his brother hadn't spoken for three years before he died, leaving Jake with a hole burning in his heart with all the things he left unsaid.

He didn't want the same for his own children.

Niri'te looked up at him, her large eyes gazing at him, wary and a little scared. "Kiri wouldn't like that," she mumbled and looked at Tuktirey, who was crouched low under a rather large loreyu, reaching up slowly. The plant shrunk into itself at the slightest touch of her tiny fingers.

Jake frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"'Cause last week she said—"

Niri'te cut herself off, refusing to look at her father.

"What did she say, baby girl?'' His voice was a soft whisper, genuine and caring in its tone. This got Niri'te to look at him, her yellow eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"She said that Eywa has left me,"

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Translations in order of appearance:

Olo'eyktan - clan leader

Toruk Makto - Rider of Last Shadow

Tsahìk - shamanic matriarch

Tswin - queue

nìhona lawr - sweet melody

Swaynivi - family hammock

Na'vi - indigenous Pandorian sentient race

Sa'sem - parent/set of parents.

'Eveng - child

Neympin - light colour (this is used as a sort of pet name for Niri'te because of her lighter skin colour)

Loreyu - beautiful spiral (helicoradian)

Eywa - world spirit/the Great Mother who protects the balance of life.