Petrichor

Mated

It's official.

Jake Sully, one of the People. Part of the Omatikaya clan. 

Quaritch had tried to get him to rotate back to Earth with the promise of his new legs, but he'd made an excuse about becoming one of the People, and that they would trust him to get them to move, to stay on Pandora. 

Well, it worked. Eytukan was the first to place his hands on Jake's shoulders, and the rest followed suit. 

Grace had been crying. She said it was because she couldn't believe that the People had let such a knucklehead become part of the clan, but he knew better. She was genuinely proud of him, and of the moment. 

Ilhia had been busy with the Tsahik and Neytiri all day, so he was glad when she said she wanted to show him something.

"Utral Aymokriyä, Tree of Voices," Ilhia told him as they made their way up to their ikrans. She'd made him wash off all of his ceremony paint after spending hours putting it on, but she said there was no point in keeping it on. 

"This is the tree where the, uh, atokirina come from?"

"Sran."

"Cool," he mumbled, mainly to himself. 

Something had changed between them. He'd sensed it the other day. She'd asked him about Neytiri, and then it seemed like her walls were back up. Not as tall as when they'd first met, but she was still guarded about something, and he had no idea what.

Neither of them were good at small talk, so the ride to Utral Aymokriyä was relatively quiet. It was only a ten minute  journey though, and they arrived in no time, leaving the ikrans a couple of minutes away since there was no good places to land them near.

Ilhia's face had relaxed more and more the closer they got, and once they were on the ground she seemed almost giddy. He'd barely had time to give Bob a pat before she'd caught his wrist and started dragging him along. 

"Come on, skxawng!"

He just laughed at her and let her pull him to the trees. 

He'd had a bit of background on them from Grace. They were the Na'vi's most sacred place, a place to connect directly with Eywa. 

He'd seen them from a distance before when flying, and Grace had shown him pictures, but nothing did them justice. Ilhia had chosen to come out here with him after eclipse, and the trees lit up the entire area. 

"They are beautiful, yes?" Ilhia said softly. He'd stopped in amazement when they'd came across them, and she'd let him out of her grasp. She took a hold of his hand this time, and guided him into the centre. "This is a place for prayers to be heard, and sometimes answered."

Jake watched her pull her braid over her shoulder and make tsaheylu with one of the glowing branches. He copied her, and his pupils dilated as he began hearing the voices of the ancestors.

"I can hear them," he breathed, and Ilhia disconnected from her own part, coming over to put her hand over his. 

"You see? They live, Jake, within Eywa." She paused for a split second, almost like she was arguing with herself. "I see my sister Sylwanin. Eywa allows me to visit her."

Jake smiled, breaking the bond with the sacred tree. "That's beautiful." 

He hadn't thought about his own brother for so long, probably since the discussion they'd had together about the mass crematoriums back on Earth. The thought both surprised and saddened him. 

He wished Tommy had been able to see all this. He would have absolutely loved it. He  wished that Tommy lived within Eywa, and that he could visit him from time to time. Too bad that wasn't happening. He'd fashioned a miniature urn in his time away from the clan and now wore it on a necklace in his avatar body. He'd not had the chance to put some of Tommy's ashes in it though.