I Have Crossed the Stars to Find You - BOOK ONE

Chapter 12 - Transition

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rose

Less than a week after Ninat and Norm had their children and I asked Neytiri about permanently transitioning to my avatar body, I was preparing for the ritual ceremony for it with help from Ozue and Ninat. I haven't gone back to the lab so I haven't been able to link back to my other body, and I've been spending most of my time either with Jake, with Ninat and the babies, or just having lessons with Neytiri. I'm currently on the level above the ground floor, hidden in a small room separated out by smaller branches and large leaves completely nude while Ninat braids my hair, two of her children suckling away at her chest while I hold the third. Ozue's gently painting dark blue stripes across my body in the same pattern as my avatar body, making sure to stay away from my private areas and avoiding looking near them as much as possible for my comfort. Once she's done she wipes off her hands and puts away the paint, then once Ninat finishes my braids Ozue carefully takes the baby out of my arms while Ninat picks up the other two and they both wish me good luck and remind me that we're meeting up after the ceremony before they walk out of the little room.

Neytiri had given me a large shawl to wear until the main part of the ceremony took place so I went over and grabbed it from where I had it hanging up, checking and making sure all my paint was dry before putting the shawl on, careful not to smudge it. Once I was done I heard a quiet knock on the outside of the room and when I walked over to the doorway to see who it was, I smiled at the sight of Jake waiting there for me with his usual smile. He crouched down and took my hands in his, gently turning my arms over to look at my paint before smiling as he looked at my face again, "Ready to go, ma yawne?" I took a shaky breath and nodded, nuzzling against the hand that he brought up to cup my cheek. "Alright, let's go then hì'i yayo." He said quietly as he stood back up to his full height and gently took one of my hands in his, the two of us walking over to the staircase and walking down together. With my free hand I made sure to hold my shawl closed around my body as we made our way to the center of the ceremonial circle, once we got to the center I removed my shawl and laid down opposite my avatar body, which was also nude.

Jake sat near both my bodies, watching anxiously as Neytiri began the ritual, joining the entire clan in chanting in unison. After only a minute or two Neytiri signaled for them all to stop, turning to check the pulse of my human body, then doing the same for my avatar body. Jake watched her do so while holding his breath, tail twitching around to express his distress until suddenly Neytiri looked to him and nodded towards my avatar body. He watched as my avatar body suddenly took a deep, open-mouthed breath, before I quickly rolled backwards to lay partially flat on my back, reaching around towards him, muttering, "Jake? Ma Jake?" Jake quickly crawled over to sit next to me and gently took my hand in both of his, smiling softly down at me as he gently kisses along my knuckles. He leaned down and I purred quietly as he gently pressed his forehead to mine, both of us closing our eyes as my free hand went to cup his cheek, "I'm here, ma yawne. Frakrr eyawr fìtseng. (Always right here.)"

✭・.・✫

Hours later, the entire clan was celebrating my transition around the central fire, some people dancing together and singing and others just mingling and eating together. I was sat not far from the fire, sitting in Jake's lap next to Ninat and Norm, each of them holding one baby while I held the third, cooing down at her as she looked up at me with wide, curious eyes. Ozue was dancing not far away from us with her mate, Ay'u, both women looking over at us with smiles and small jokes every once in a while. Ninat and I began discussing when I planned to have my initiation, Jake hooking his chin over my shoulder to make funny faces down at the baby in my arms, his purring against my back getting louder when she would giggle and squeal in delight. "I think I will wait until after Neytiri is closer to having her baby, she's already in the third trimester so it should be soon. I'm still trying to decide if I'll be a hunter or a—" the words died in my throat when I felt one of Jake's hands gently rubbing my lower stomach, his attention was still on the baby in my arms so I'm not even sure if he realized he was doing it. I blinked a few times before continuing my sentence, "—or a gatherer.. I suppose I might be able to do both technically."

Ninat nodded as she processed my words, a slight smirk overtaking her face as she glanced down and noticed Jake's hand on my stomach, though when she looked back at my eyes hers held something in them, like they knew something I didn't. Eventually the baby in my arms, who had been named Camael by her parents, began fussing as she was hungry, so I handed her over to her mother and before I could offer to hold one of the others, Jake gently nudged his head against the side of mine to gain my attention. Turning my head to look at him we both smiled just at the sight of each other before he leaned in a bit more and whispered in my ear, "Awnga sweylu fäkä kop nìn snatanhìtsyìp. (We should go look at the stars.)" I nodded after processing his words, standing up so he could also get up, I walked over and said goodbye to our friends, gently hugging Ninat and kissing each baby on the forehead individually, Norm standing up so he and Jake could give each other a 'bro hug' before the two of us headed away from the rest of the clan, climbing up to the top levels of Hometree before Jake called down Bob and we both got on his back, Jake seating me in front of him before we took off, flying a bit far away to the nearest Tree of Souls where we landed, running hand in hand through the vines and laughing together before laying beside one another under the tree, watching the stars together.

Jake was laid on his side facing me, head held up by one bent arm and the other lightly tracing the stripes on my side, I was laid beside him on my back, telling him about the constellations, then about the different Pandoran plants and pointing out which were my favorites before the conversation eventually settled on the subject of my mother. "I didn't get to see her that day. Never got to say goodbye, but I suppose in some aspects that made it easier for me to grieve. I do kind of wish that I could've been there though, sometimes I think if I was there I might've been able to help, to save her somehow." I told him quietly and waved my hands about slightly as I spoke, all the while he just watched me speak and paid attention, ears twitching as he remembered something Neytiri told him about once, though he'd never tried it before. "There may be a way you could talk to her, though I'm not sure if it would work." He told me, smiling softly as I immediately sat up, a hopeful look in my eyes as I gently clutched his arm, "Really? How? Please show me, ma Jake." He nodded and sat up with me, reaching over and carefully grabbing some of the glowing vines hanging down around us and directing me to connect my queue to it. I did carefully, gasping quietly as my vision went completely white for a moment before I heard a quiet voice somewhere behind me. I turned around quickly, eyes searching the empty white void surrounding me on all sides before there was a light tap on my shoulder. I turned back around and instantly teared up at the sight of my mother in her avatar form, stepping closer before we wrapped our arms around each other, she directed us both down to be kneeling on the ground and when I opened my eyes back up, she was now in her human form, my head tucked against her chest and one of her hands gently stroking through my hair.

"Ma, I thought I'd never see you again.." I spoke softly, voice a bit raspy as I choked back a sob, purring quietly as she brought a hand up to rub my cheek. "I'm right here, my darling. I'll always be right here, with Eywa. Now how are you? I see you've fully transitioned into your Na'vi body, how was the ceremony? Did it go well?" She asked quickly, an excited smile on her face as I started telling her all about the ceremony and my new friends, her eyes not missing how my expression softened when I talked about the babies or Jake. "Have you gone through the initiation yet?" She wondered aloud, and I shook my head no before responding, "Not yet, but I plan on having it soon. Oh ma, the ikran are magnificent. I named mine Anìheyu, after your favorite plant. The spiral one, with the purple dots. He's this beautiful yellow color, almost like gold, with dark rich purple swirls and patches all over." Grace watched me with a fond smile as I launched into telling her about my ikran, my adventures with him and how he even accepted me in my human form, which she'd never heard of happening before. Eventually I had to go, and with one last tight hug and a goodbye, I went back out of my head and disconnected my queue from the vines as I opened my eyes. Jake was still sat right next to me, a soft smile on his face as he leaned forward and gently wiped away the few tears dripping down my cheeks before pressing a kiss to my forehead.