I see you, Tsu'tey

Chapter 29

Warm water surrounded her as she swum in a lake not far from the hometree. The lake was deep and was a dull, almost see-through green that at night would light up in the most beautiful of neon. She had needed an escape after living through some of Tsu'tey's worst memories, and to think that the parts she saw was just fragments of the story, and the feelings she felt mere whispers compared to the screaming of his.

Her lungs were screaming for air but she wasn't ready to break the surface. She was addicted to the feeling of control she had under the water, she controlled every move and ripple in the lake. Lately she had been feeling a loss of control. She had just started getting some of her control back, and had after a long time of fighting she had earned the respect and her place among the Na'vi, but now she felt like it was all spiralling out of control.

Awa took one last stroke before she swam for the surface. Her eyes were wide-open and had adjusted quickly to the slight murkiness in the water and slight sting that came with it. She had always been a swimmer, and when she needed to think she went swimming. Awa found it particularly calming when she got to peacefully swim with different creatures like fish or other kinds of creatures on Pandora that resided in water. Once or twice she had ran into a predator and had to get out of the water but most of the time it went without a hitch and she came out relaxed and in a good mood.

She gasped loudly when she finally broke the surface and greedily inhaled air. The woman giggled and pushed herself around in a circle, making small ripples in the water around her and scaring off any of the nearby fishes. Awa stills and forces herself to breathe slower. She saw two blue blops crawling just inside of the forest line, one of them being Jake and the other Neytiri.

They both had bows strapped to their backs, Neytiri's was made from wood from the hometree and decorated the way she wanted, while Jake's was plain and worn from all the years it had been used. Awa watched in silence as the pair crawled forward after their prey and she saw how in synch they were. She flinched from the sudden pain that she felt in her heart as she stared at them, at how the sight reminded her of him. Had it really been that long since he died? It felt like yesterday to her and the burden of his death wasn't getting any easier, especially since she watched Jake's relationship with Neytiri grow. He would have been happy for them, Awa thought, he would have wanted her to move on. If only it hadn't been with Jake, who she still hadn't forgiven for spying on her.

Awa started swimming to the rocky beach and as soon as she had her feet firmly placed on dry soil again she raised her arms high above her head and then let them flop loudly against her wet sides. That would for sure have scared away any nearby prey for the lurking duo, she thought smugly and begun her journey back to the hometree.

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"Have you already ran out of them? It's been two days, Tsu" Awa sighed and then laughed with her head tilted back. "I pity the chefs. They work hard to build up a stock of the seeds and then two days later you've eaten them all. It reminds me of how fast my aunt used to eat a few small nuts, earth ones. We used to buy the biggest bag of them and when my mom brought it out the same night they were all gone"

Tsu'tey glanced up at his mate with a sheepish smile on his face before picking up the last episoth seed from his leaf. He stared at it and then at her, and then back down at the seed. "They're my favorite" He almost whined and threw the seed into his mouth before Awa could yank it out of his hand. "And I was the one who went through the trouble of getting them, so it's only fair that I'm the one who gets to eat them."

Awa stared at him, opening her mouth and then snapping it close. "Excuse you. I helped you bring those seeds. You're in one of those moods today."The woman commented with a pointed look as she stared at her mate's petulant face.