Petrichor

Grief

One Year Later

"Nalmayu! Come back!" Kiri shouted. Ilhia glanced up from the chopping she was doing, swinging her head so she could see through her braids. 

"Auntie!" Nalmayu squealed, running into the tent, his arms raised, Kiri and Tuk chasing after him. She immediately dropped her knife and spread her own arms. The boy charged into her and she wrapped him up and stood, lifting her nephew out of harm's reach. Her girls ran into her anyway, and it became a group hug. 

It was finally over. 

They had went to war. Had been to hell and back, as Jake would often say. But they'd won. 

They had gathered the clans. Turns out, Nalmayu wasn't the only child that the Sky People had taken. The Tipani clan, the closest neighbouring clan before Kelutral was destroyed a second time, had had dozens of children taken from their villages. The Kekunan clan, mountain Na'vi that used ikrans religiously, and the Tayrangi clan, the coastal ikran people, had also had children taken. Once they'd got Nalmayu, they used him as bait for the other children, and killed any adults that came near. It had gotten easier and easier for them the more children they'd taken. The clans had hardly needed convincing, those with missing children, and the others, the ones who hadn't been affected by the return of the Sky People, had helped them as soon as they found out about the kids. 

It had been a long affair, spending months planning everything. The Sky People had seemed to come to a standstill with their attack after Quaritch and his soldiers were killed. 

After the death of her son, after his burial, they stayed in Awa'atlu for a few days. They got on the phone with Norm, spoke to Tarsem as Olo'eyktan, and he'd been more than happy for them to come back. 

He'd been more than happy for Jake to take title of Olo'eyktan too, until Roeuyi was fit to do so, but her husband had refused. The Omatikaya had just got used to their new leader, and the loss of their old one. Jake hadn't wanted to cause any rift. 

And they'd made a deal with Tonowari and Ronal. Lo'ak hadn't wanted to leave Tsireya, and Tsireya hadn't particularly wanted Lo'ak to leave. So they'd agreed to take Tsireya and Aonung back with them for six months. They'd left Jake's communication devices there, so they could still talk everyday, but it had been strange for the siblings. 

Lo'ak had said that they were like fish out of water. 

She'd told him off to his face but cracked up about it with Jake later. 

They'd taken Tsireya and Aonung home before the fighting began. The war party had expected it to last weeks, even months, but it had only taken two days. 

Tonowari and his warriors had joined the fight, bringing their tsuraks and Payakan. They'd hit the water entrance of the Sky People base, drew most of the human warriors out. The Kekunan and Tayrangi clans had aided them in the air. And the rest of them had hit the front. 

The humans didn't stand a chance. 

Norm had so many explosives it had made even Jake's head reel. He had led a group of Na'vi and humans alike to scrounge the old battlefield, for demon corpses and grenades that hadn't been set off. And once they'd started looking, they couldn't seem to stop finding them. That, and Max had been in contact with one of the scientists in the base, who he'd used to work with back on Earth. Cameron James, who everyone called Cam, had snuck so many weapons out of the base over a period of three months that Ilhia was surprised that the humans even had any left.

Of course, the explosives from the battlefields had all been sixteen years old, and Jake had doubted that even half of them would work. But half was better than none. And with Cam's addition, both of grenades and guns, the humans may as well have just thrown their weapons down.