I see you, Tsu'tey

Chapter 21

After she stormed away from a confused Ngeha with disbelief bubbling inside of her she wandered around aimlessly. Her head was spinning, her stomach was twisting and turning, everything was so confusing. Grace, her best friend who was supposed to tell her everything, neglected to tell her that Jake was a spy. She could take that, but the fact that Jake was spying for Quaritch was just the cherry on top, or the final drop of water that made a massive dam break. Grace knew what Quaritch had done to her and was still doing and she still didn't tell Awa that Jake was spying on her (And the omaticaya) for that same man. Grace never protected her against Quaritch, she was never there when something happened but even after Awa finally broke down and told her all about it Grace did nothing. That was what hurt so much, that not only did Grace do nothing while Quaritch destroyed her but now that Awa was finally free Grace came clean about Jake spying on her for said man. She didn't blame Jake for it, she understood that he was only following orders but it still stung, as much as she hated to admit it she was warming up to him. Of course she was still mad at him, and a little bit scared of the information he might have given Quaritch, but it wasn't the same kind of anger that she had towards Grace.

"Jake!" She called out when she saw the man walking in his Avatar body just a few meters ahead of her. "I need to talk to you!"

"Awa?" Jake answered surprised. He was surprised that she was approaching him and that she would even want to talk to him after everything he's done. A bit of guilt grew inside of him when he thought of what he's been doing and sweat began forming at the thought of her knowing.

"Come on, we need to talk" Awa demanded as she passed him with her tail smacking him on the chest and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Where are we going?" Jake asked after he began following her into the hometree with his tail clumsily swinging.

"You'll see" Was her final words to him before she began climbing up a shortcut Tsu'tey had shown her after noticing how much she hated the usual route.

Awa walked a bit ahead of Jake, her steps fast but yet quiet and graceful. Jake's steps were clumsy and louder than Atxa's snoring. Who for the record once woke up the whole clan one night when he snored particularly loudly. They walked inside the hometree and instantly everyone inside the first 'room' turned to stare at Jake with mixed feelings, some of them with curiosity and some with anger. Much more friendlier reactions than she got from them for a very long time but she warmed them up to the idea of a dreamwalker being a good soul, she remarked smugly. It had taken her a long time and a lot of effort but at last they had embraced her and loved her as she first envisioned. Jake got the privilege of reaping some of the benefits from that. Of course it made her a little big angry to see him having a much easier time than her but she was the one who made it all possible, so it made her proud too.

Awa took a left right by the exit and didn't look back to see if Jake followed her, would be his loss if he decided not to. She was giving him a chance to explain himself but if he didn't want to do that then she'd be fine either way. This part of the hometree wasn't as crowded as the rest of it, mainly because there was no real reason to be there except if you knew about the shortcut. BY the stomping footsteps behind her she knew that Jake was still following her so she didn't bother with looking back at him before jumping up on a platform made out of braided branches that had grown together over time.

This time she looked down on him, seeing the puzzled look on his face when he stared back up at her, and jumped to the second platform that just like the first was made out of strong branches that made up the hometree. Awa heard the thud of his failed landing below her and her lips turned into a mixture of a grin and a tired frown.

The rest of the short climb to the Ikrans went by fast and Jake only fell down twice, which she considered almost impressive for a new dreamwalker like him. She didn't help him up though and she didn't stop to wait for him. She climbed up the last platform and then pushed herself to her feet with a small smile, they were there. She could see all of Pandora spreading out around her, the small bodies of water that was the source of life on Pandora, the trees that stretched towards the sky with beautiful leaves, some big enough that two of her could lay stretched out next to each other and never touch the ends and some smaller ones that many animals ate. She could even see some of Pandora's bigger animals moving around in their respective territories.