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04

Aponi found that linking with her Avatar was getting easier and easier as the days grew on. After proving that Aponi wouldn't do anything too reckless to her artificial body, Grace and Valentine decided to let Aponi's Avatar stay full-time at the school while she and Valentine would stay at a base in the Hallelujah Mountains. 

Aponi remembered the day both of them were told. Valentine was practically squealing at the news, picking up the other and twirling her around amidst his happiness. The two of them had been on Pandora for a little under six months and Grace decided that the both of them were good enough to be by themselves. Packing up the little she had put out in her room, Aponi and Valentine were sitting in the helicopter as they passed by the floating mountains.

It was beautiful. Aponi took so many photos that day, of the scenery and of her and Valentine and everything in between. Once she was returned to her Avatar body and at the school, she showed Sylwanin and Neytiri the photos she had taken with a large smile. Neytiri had scooted closer to her and pointed at things, all but sitting in the other woman's lap. If either of them noticed, they didn't say anything. 

Now, three months later, Tsu'tey had come to inform her that today was the day that Aponi would meet Neytiri and Sylwanin's parents. She simply nodded at him, turning back to Grace and Valentine and waving before hopping on the back of Tsu'tey's pa'li, nodding at him to go forward. The ride from the school to the home tree wasn't long at all, much faster than the one time Aponi had went, back when she needed clothing and Neytiri gifted her with what she was wearing now. 

Getting off of the animal and thanking him for the ride, she turned around to look at the scenery around her. She wishes that she brought her camera, and hoped to God that this wouldn't be the last time she was here. Na'vi pressed their hands against her shoulders and arms as she walked passed them, yips and harsh whispers following her as she made her way to the Olo'eyktan and Tsahík. She squared her shoulders, expression blank as she felt Mo'at circle around her. The tree was deathly quiet, and Aponi steeled herself for whatever was going to happen. 

"What are you called?" Mo'at abruptly asked in English, head tilted to the side as she stared at Aponi. The other woman stared her directly in her eyes, pushing her chest forward while still keeping her stance respectful.

"Aponi Creek, it is my honor to meet you, Tsahík." She responded in Na'vi, before bowing deeply to the woman. The crowd around her began speaking loudly, and Aponi kept her knee to the ground as she bowed. If there was one thing her grandmother had taught her, it was to respect those wiser than you.  

"You may stand, child." Mo'at ordered, and Aponi did exactly that, unflinching when she felt the other prick her with a needle and watched as she tasted her blood. "My daughters tell me you wish to learn our ways, our language. Is this true?" Mo'at asked, and Aponi nodded firmly.

"This is nonsense! How can a tawtute learn the ways of our people?" A warrior thundered, glaring at Aponi. At this, Mo'at held up a hand that silenced the man while observing the Avatar in front of her. 

"You know a great deal already. Why do you need our help learning more?" The Olo'eyktan spoke up, standing next to his mate. He had stayed silent the entire time up until this point, and his face knocked the breath out of Aponi. If not for his blue skin, he'd look exactly like her late grandfather. 

She took a moment before speaking, standing tall and looking Eytukan in his eyes. " I wish to help you from the other sky people, so that you do not suffer the fate that was bestowed on my family and I many years ago by the same people. To do that, I must learn the ways of the Ometikaya." She said fiercely, ears lowering slightly as she remembered her family back on Earth. Eytukan seemed surprised by her answer, turning to look at Mo'at and his daughters who had just shown up.

Of course, Aponi had seen them before he had. Her heart began beating fast in her chest as she locked eyes with Neytiri, before lowering her gaze as she waited for the Olo'eyktan's answer. "You may learn the ways of our people. You will be trained as a warrior, under Tsu'tey's guidance." He finally said, voice ringing out into the silence of his people. Aponi let out a quiet huff of relief, thanking him multiple times as her eyes closed. 

They opened again when she felt his hand on her shoulder, looking up into his eyes. "I sense something great in you. Do not let us down, child." He said, quieter. Her gaze steeled and she nodded, before he stepped away and motioned for her to go with Tsu'tey. Neytiri and Sylwanin followed after her as she moved through the group of Na'vi, head held high as she made her way outside the tree. 

She felt a pressure on her back and turned around to see Neytiri smiling brightly down at her, and Aponi smiled back, giggling. "You make me proud, Aponi. You make Eywa proud." She spoke softly, and the other's smile softened before she gave the princess a tight hug, ears twitching as she heard Tsu'tey let out a yip, calling out for her. After holding Neytiri in her arms a few moments more, she pulled back and put her fingers to her forehead before pointing them at the other. Neytiri did it back to her as she watched the Avatar walk away, sighing softly to herself. 

Aponi and Tsu'tey did not speak for a while as they made their way back to the school. Aponi didn't mind it, she was perfectly content watching the surroundings and letting her ears pick up the sounds of nature. After a while, they stopped in the middle of the forest near what looked like an old camp and Tsu'tey got off the animal before walking to the campsite and sitting down on a log. Aponi followed after him, carefully maneuvering around the half-done weapons that littered the ground so that she didn't step on anything that could harm her. 

She watched Tsu'tey pick up what was starting to form into a hunting knife, using his own to carve out the handle. Aponi sat next to him and hugged her legs tight to her chest, watching the scenery around them with quiet awe. This is what they did for quite a while, sitting in thick silence. 

"What happened to your people?" The male Na'vi asked suddenly, not looking up from the hunting knife. Aponi tensed slightly, unfurling her legs and sighing. "You do not have to answer." He said shortly, glancing at her before focusing back on the weapon in his hand. 

"No, no, it's alright. I am going to have to tell someone eventually." Aponi reassured, placing her hands in her lap. She looked down at them and bit her lip, trying to figure where to start. When she got her bearings, she looked up at Tsu'tey, fiddling with a piece of grass she had plucked out of the ground. 

And then she started her tale, looking straight ahead into the trees around the two. 

"Before I was born, my people were mighty. My grandmother told me stories of how we fought to keep our land, to keep our brothers and sisters safe in the confines of what little we had. She taught me the songs of not only our people, but from the times before her that she had been taught as well. We were the natives of the planet I came from, and then we were stripped of the very thing that we had known our entire lives." Aponi started off, not realizing Tsu'tey had stopped what he was doing to listen to her. 

"It happened late one night, when she and I were asleep. My older brother had woken us both up by screaming, pulling me from my bed to show me the world outside. Our home was burning, the little trees left on Earth crumbling to the floor because of what those monsters had done. They had taken the only thing we had left. They took our land, our trees, our animals," She hesitated for a moment, the words like lead in her mouth. "They even took some of my brothers and sisters. It was horrible. I remember my grandmother holding me and my brother while I held my little sister. She was only a few weeks old." Her voice cracked, and she wiped her eyes harshly. She turned to the Na'vi, and the look of pain in her eyes was hard to miss. "She died in my arms. The smoke and toxicity of the air killed her. They took my sister, and there was nothing I could do. I was powerless. I let my people down." 

She turned away from Tsu'tey, ignoring the burning stare on the side of her face. " I will not let your family down the way I let mine down." She said firmly. Tsu'tey simply nodded before turning away, working on his knife once more. Aponi stared at the forest in front of her as she calmed herself down, admiring the colors of the forest that seemed to be brighter through her tears. 

The silence they sat in was more comfortable then. It meant friendship, gaining a sibling under Eywa's will. It meant more than either of them knew at the time. 

Aponi wished it could have stayed that way forever.