Chapter 6

Her Jake had been silent for a long time. Barely a word had left his lips since the ceremony's end and they had already flown for several hours.

She knew she had been hard on him, that she accused him without words of not caring for the Omatikaya as much as she did.

They had to leave their home because Jake had made enemies that would threaten his children if he wouldn't surrender. So her mate chose to go down the rockier path and leave all that he had built up, to save her and their children. To give them safety.

At first she was angry at him for even imagining it. Her whole life was within the clan, her father and sisters buried with generations of her ancestors, all she knew and loved was in in the forest. She did not think of his pain, because she thought his pain could never compare to hers.

Sometimes she forgot the depths of her husbands soul and how deeply he cared. She wasn't even sure she would ever understand it.

She now saw him, his hand resting on two identical stones hanging around his neck.

He had once told her that the relationship between twins was something special and deep that could even transcend death. On earth, twins were like two halves of one soul. At least that was what Neytiri had understood from her husbands descriptions.

Jake had not often talked about his brother Tom since they had met. At first most of his feelings were still to raw, too painful to share. Later he had told her how he found out about her sister Sylvanin from Grace and how this had brought up the matter of Tom's death all over again.

When they had met Jake seemed so cheerful, like a child with to much things to play with. The general situation was anything but cheerful, jet her Jake had told her how he had come back to life after meeting and falling in love with her. After falling in love with the clan, the people and Pandora itself. The first time he told her about Tom, he said that it felt like he heard the news of his death just yesterday, but had not taken the time to really think about what it would mean for him.

His life had made so many drastic changes that Tom's death was just one of them.

It had been only them for many years after their parents death. Living, working and laughing together, but shortly before Tom's death they had fallen out badly and the next time he had seen Tommy he was dead in a casket.

Jake told Neytiri about how he regretted starting the fight. Many of the things he had said during their fight were out of anger coming from the loss of his legs, that should not have been directed at Tom, whom had taken care of all his needs at the time. When they called him to take care of his affairs, Jake had even found an extra Bank account under Tommy's name, that was dedicated to sponsor the surgery for his legs.

After his arrival on Pandora he realised that his twin had been dead for several years by then. No one, with the exception of Jake had come to the funeral. Tommy had been so kind and likeable, jet he had spend all his time with Jake exclusively to make sure he was cared for. Inwardly he hoped that part of his brother had come with him to the new world. Tom would have loved Pandora, just like Jake did.

When Neytiri surprised her husband with an elaborate necklace after ten years of marriage, she had no idea how much she would move him with her gift. The necklace consisted of two stones that once had been one with an ethereal bluish hue. It reminded her of her husbands human eyes, that were fare more pale, but seemed so expressive for the short time she got to look at them. She had found the stones at the bottom of a river and made them into a necklace with soft but sturdy roots.

When Jake saw the necklace, he felt that he had gotten back something that he had been missing for years. A reminder of the connection he had had to his twin. His voice of reason that had been with him his entire life before he'd met Neytiri.

She told him about her observations and that sometimes he seemed like he was talking to a person who wasn't there. She told him that this person was supposed to be right next to him.

Here on Pandora he felt his twin's absence so keenly, it was as if Tom had become closer to him and jet gone so much further away. He had taken up his place in the RDA, but left his twins remains on a dying planet light years away.

The necklace was now a symbol to him of his bond with his brother. It reminded him that Tommy would always have a place in his heart and that their bond was still strong even after Tom's death. Jake always carried the necklace with him and it helped him feel connected to his twin brother even though he was left with only memories of him.

When Neytiri was not able to understand her husband completely she as well imagined Tom to be there. He would look like her Jake but act completely different. He would give her advice how to calm Jake and then go off to annoy his brother. In her mind he was alive and with them just how he was alive to Jake.

Over the years, Jake had developed a special way of dealing with stress. When faced with difficult decisions, he would take time to mentally talk to Tom and weigh his options. He would imagine Tom sitting with him and debating every part of his plans, especially the stupid and risky stunts his brother would come up with. But mostly Tom sat and listened, eager for Jake to share his burdens and his joys.

And when strong emotions threatened to overwhelm him, Jake reached for the necklace. The motion seemingly calming him down. Reconnecting him to his source of calm and common sense.

This habit of Jake's was even inherited to their children. All of them received a blue crystal at some point in their lives, to anchor calm and peace in their mind. Kiri added the stone to Grace's former necklace and Tuk received a headpiece. Lo'ak integrated his stone into his first dagger and Neteyam wore the stone on his Ionar. Not all of them wore the jewellery as consistently as Jake but it became an exclusive item to the Sully family, jet only the parents really understood what it meant.

Neytiri knew she would never be able to replace the loss of Tom, but she hoped the necklace and her love would carry Jake through the most difficult moments.

Right now her husband mourned more than she was willing to see. His grip on his necklace tight.

Their arrival on the beach was less than ideal but not a complete catastrophe. His already hurting children had been discriminated against and his honour slighted, but they were allowed to stay. He wished he could give his family hope that they would love the new village but all his attempts failed miserably. He understood how they felt.

The pod they were assigned to was similar to a large round tent, right next to the water. Neytiri dropped all pretence and her sleeping mat. He could see that she hated it. She hated it because it wasn't the forest.

During his forty years of life he had first moved at the age of sixteen. His parents had died overseas and they had decided to live on their own instead of moving to an uncles house they had never met in their lives. Both Tom and him were able to bunk with a friend for several days before Tom showed him to their new apartment. He had hated the empty and small rooms with a passion at fist, It just wasn't the same as before. But Tom made it their haven.

For the first few month, Jake would find little trinkets all over the place to put on the walls or to make his life more comfortable. Tom had gifted him the best pillow ever, a set of wood tools and a stack of synthesised wood. They had built their own desks and drawers, some frames and shelves. Only half a year later, he loved that apartment more than their former house due to all the happy memories that decorated it.

Now Jake would do the same for his family. They would love this new place soon, he'd make sure of it.

Please enjoy this bit of sentimentality.