(So'lek is keeping vigil by Tamí'tey's side and has hardly left it, Rasi comes in to keep So'lek company. But their conversation quickly evolves as Rasi decides to take a gamble and tell So'lek about Tamí'tey's feelings for him after So'lek talks about his own but how he doesnt deserve them, he's too broken for someone like Tamí'tey.)

"...Funny."

"What is?"

"It's almost the same thing they said about you too."

So'lek's ear fiicked as his gaze lifts to Rasi.

"Tamí'tey..?" He tried to form a question out of the dozens that jumped to mind, but he froze.  Rasi's gaze was gentle as she just touched So'lek's arm- looking the warrior in the eyes.

"Feels the same way you do.. Every bit of it."

He looks back at them, deep in that induced slumber to help them sleep through the worst of the pain. Anufi said she would let them wake in the next day or two, but the wait was agony.

He lets his fingers lace between theirs, the sheets still warm from when he had been holding their hand earlier.

"I guess.. A small part of me did know, maybe a small part of them did too."

So'lek's not looking directly at Rasi, but from his peripheral he can see her slowly easing herself down to sit across from him and Tami'tey, just within reach of So'lek.

"Even a Talioang can see the care you have for one another." Rasi says with a soft laugh, and it even got a ghost of a smile for a second on So'lek's face.

"You two are no strangers to unimaginable loss, in both your young lives you experienced enough grief and trials for one lifetime-." Rasi continued, her weathered hands foldeding into her lap as she watched the steady rise and fall of Tamí'tey's chest- much like she did back when she first met them.

The first Sarentu she had seen since the Massacre, and she wasn't sure if they'd even survive at first- but Tamí'tey proved to be both durable and stubborn despite being blown out of the sky.

"I am terrified of losing them, and I almost did anyways." So'lek confesses, barely audible as Rasi could hear him actually trying not to choke up..

Edit 4/8: This snippet is in this chapter of “Not You Too” :3

"Tamí'tey..?"

  Familiarity scratched at the back of their half-conscious mind, through all the ringing in their ears and the pain that wracked their body- something about the voice put every frayed nerve at ease for a reason they couldn't quite remember just yet. 

  There was an exhale with just the barest shudder in his breath, betraying the relief and fear in it as Tamí'tey felt calloused fingertips ghost tenderly by the mark, causing their heavy eyelids to give the faintest flutters as they struggled to crack open- still they knew who it was next to them even before they could make out who it was.

  ‘Ma So'lek..!’

  The memories resurfaced in the fog of their mind- Bukowski gleefully informed them he had a special trap for the Dog Tag Warrior or any of their would-be rescuers, regardless- even just the possibility of it claiming So'lek was worth the attempt.

  And it didn't matter if they lived or died from it either, long as it took him out too.. Tamí'tey recalled the last attempt as the Mangkwan carried them away, the way the RDA laid complete waste to TAP in an effort to make it his grave- only for So'lek to survive anyways. 

  ”He's a survivor, that one.”

  Bukowski's words echoed in their ears as the memories started to overwhelm them- but so did the relief.

  Their heavy gaze was unable to focus their vision enough to really make out So'lek in any real detail even with the faint fire glow, though they could smell the singed hair, ash, and blood on him. 

  ‘None of it is his, thank Ewya.’

  They heard his footsteps before they heard Wu’kula bellow with vicious snarl, his tail flaying around behind him as he trudged the battlefield- growing nearer and nearer.

  "SO'LEEEK!" 

  "I KNOW YOU ARE HERE! COME OUT!! COWARD!!"

  Tamí'tey could barely make out what the Mangkwan was saying through all the ringing still in their ears, but whatever it was it made So'lek's face grimace in a snarl above them.

  "YOU WILL GIVE ME THE FIGHT I AM OWED!"

  So'lek's gaze rose to Wu'kula with a hardened, unblinking stare while he hovered protectively over Tamí'tey, completely unwavered even as Wu’kula's grin twisted with vicious glee. 

  "FACE ME SO'LEK! Or else, you will watch me gut every one of your family- and I'll save that one for last." The Mangkwan gestured with his blade at the pair, his pale yellow gaze glared at the both of them like a feral Palulukan.

  So'lek stole one more glance at Tamí'tey in the moment he could spare, his amber eyes softening for just a flash- if they had blinked they would have missed it, but the two of them didn't need to exchange words, his gaze held the promise alone that he was coming back- and that was all they needed. 

  He tore his gaze away from them with some reluctance, that snarl returned twisted onto his face as So'lek found a new, burning resolve to fight.

  "I do not fear you." So'lek gritted out low through bared teeth, finally raising himself up to his full height as his feet dug into the dirt- he charged towards Wukula with outstretched hands, tackling him with all his might and causing the two of them to tumble away out of sight. 

  He would finish this here and now, be damned if Mangkwan, RDA, or whatever else dare try to tear away the only other family he's ever known.

  And more selfishly, be damned if they ever tried to take Tamí'tey away from him again. 

  He had to put their condition out of his mind as he and Wu'kula's hands clawed furiously at each other's faces- while So'lek wordlessly prayed to Ewya that Ri'nela and Teylan would find Tamí'tey in time. 

  That ever persistent ringing in their ears was the least of Tamí'tey's worries, they were forced to be mindful of their breathing to mitigate the shearing pain in their ribs and back as they started to become aware of the extent of their injuries.

  With that awareness, they too realized that they were on their own- alone with nothing but their thoughts their mind quickly started to race, they weren't even trying to remember, but the memories came to them along with the sharp pangs in their head- the gas that had filled their cell to sedate and paralyze them after Bukowski had told them of his plan, waking up to the pile of explosives after Ewya knows how many hours- followed by their desperate attempts to disarm as much of the explosives as they could without SID while they fought off the effects of the drugs.

  There was a sharp spasm deep in the small of their back- which caused them to almost cry out, only remembering at the last millisecond they were on a battlefield as their teeth almost snapped down on their tongue to muffle themself. 

  They let it out through gritted teeth and squeezed eyes, seeing blinding white behind them for a second while they just tried to breathe through the pain. 

  Tamí'tey laid there against the cool ashen earth, cracked eyes facing skyward as they just tried to focus- focus on anything but the pain, focus on anything but the helplessness they felt laying here- unarmed, ‘bleeding out’?

  That helplessness was quickly replaced with a flash of fear surging through them, their eyes shooting open to try to better perceive the incoming threat as they heard a pair of approaching footsteps rapidly coming towards them- hissing with pain as they tried to get up again, but then that's when they heard her-

  "T-Tamí'tey! They're alive- oh thank the Great Mother-" Ri'nela cried, and Tamí'tey allowed themself to relax at the sound of her voice- their eyes squeezing shut as they felt a pressure behind them, tears threatening to spill as Teylan's joined Ri'nela's voice as the pair came into view.

  "Tamí'tey!! Oh-- you're hurt, ba--" Tamí'tey hears a light smack to Teylan's arm even with the faint ringing still in their ears, knowing it was his from his little "ow" of protest, and it got a weak grin out of them.

  "H-He's just-- telling the truth Ri-Ri." Tamí'tey gritted out with a groan of pain, their eyes briefly squeezed shut so tightly that their brow and corners of their eyes wrinkled. 

  " 'S-sides, not the f-first time I've been blown up." They crack out with a weak grin, their bottom lip trembling from the pain as their body seemed to remind them that this pain wasn't like the other times- not the like that time they were shot out of the sky in the spires, or the other time they didn't near get out of a RDA site in time before it exploded. 

  But it was certainly pretty comparable to the time they dropped a whole ship of explosives on them and other Na'vi at the Great Games. 

  They felt Ri'nela's hand lay heavily on their chest as she knelt down next to them- her expression almost unreadable save for that worry in her eyes. 

  Her hand clutched a dapophet pod, holding it to their lips in an insistent and maternal way. 

  "You're going to be fine." She insisted firmly, almost more a reassurance to herself than Tamí'tey. "Eat." 

  Tamí'tey doesn't protest as they take a bite of the sweet fruit- this time their groan is one of near instantaneous relief, as the fruit slid down they already felt a warm comforting numbness soothe the worst of their pain- replacing it, at least for the moment with an dulled sensation. 

  "It's okay, we're gonna get you out of here." Teylan assured them, putting a hand briefly on their shoulder while his other hand went to the radio on his neck as Ri'nela encouraged another bite from Tamí'tey.

  "Anqa? It's Teylan, we are heading your way with Tamí'tey." 

  They could all hear Priya's cry of relief on the other end through Teylan's radio, followed by a slew of questions none of them could really make out as Anqa's voice cut in to soothe Priya- but it touched Tamí'tey more than anything else, all these people coming together for them and being so worried for their well-being.. 

  But they were worried about So'lek too.

  "W-We aren't leaving without S-Solek." Tamí'tey started to protest- the bite of dapophet swallowed with haste as they mustered another attempt to sit up. 

  Both Ri'nela's and Teylan's hands rush out to press on their shoulders- Ri'nela letting out a little hiss of alarm as she saw fresh blood bloom from the glimpse she got of that one wound that was worrying her- along with the glimpse of metal sticking out of it..

  "Shh- of course we aren't leaving without So'lek, but we need to get you help- so please Tamí'tey, try not to move too much.." Ri'nela soothed, successfully able to not betray the alarm in her voice. 

  Ri'nela gave Teylan a nod, his eyes quickly meeting hers with a quick nod of his own as he got up to fetch the stretcher he had dropped behind him in shock at the sight of Tamí'tey.

  She at least got them to relax a bit at her assurance, though it was bad enough they couldn't help him- the last thing they wanted to do was leave him here. 

  Ri'nela resolved to at least do what she could here before they went to the Samson, getting Tamí'tey to finish the last of the pod to buy them time- but the Samson had more supplies and the ability to fly to Anufi in minutes, it was imperative they got Tamí'tey on the stretcher and to the Samson as fast as possible.

  Teylan came up with the stretcher, the two of them wasted no more time getting Tamí'tey loaded onto it, being mindful of their movements as they placed them on the stretcher, doing their best to mitigate the pain they were already in- their faces wincing sympathetically whenever Tamí'tey betrayed any sign of pain.

  Ri'nela made double-sure Tamí'tey was secure on it, encouraging the vines to gently close around them to help secure them to the plank- watching the slow, labored but steady rise and fall of Tamí'tey's chest- wondering to herself what any number of other injuries their armor or body were hiding. 

  She tried to put out of her mind that worsening bloody bloom across their back she got a glimpse of earlier. 

  ‘Internal bleeding? Fractured ribs? Concussion? What else could be wrong?”

  Ri'nela prattled off silently to herself- it made her wonder if they should rush them to Anufi, despite Tamí'tey's plea to not leave So'lek behind. 

  The flora around them began to rustle as a cool breeze picked up, carrying with it the first few drops of cold rain. 

  Teylan hardly had any words for either of his friends, much too overwhelmed by it all to go about his usual banter.. The weave of the handle dug into his tender palms as he and Ri'nela carried the stretcher between them, keeping their heads on a swivel as they made their way to the tree line while the rain began to pick up.. 

  "T-Teylan.." Tamí'tey croaks out, their voice like gravel. "Y-You got anything n-new to tell me?"

  The question drags Teylan out of his thoughts as Ri'nela's gaze lifts to the back of Teylan's head, watching him twist around a bit to look back at Tam'tey. 

  "H-huh?.." 

  "Y-You know-- w-when you tell me about stuff- I mi-missed hearing about w-what you learned."

  Teylan didn't really expect to feel the burn in his eyes as he turned his head away, swallowing hard as he let out a little "o-oh.."

  "Oh- oh right, y-yea, of course." He tries to sound more chipper, despite that pit in his stomach- he hoped they were just being sentimental and not acting funny because they were---

  He shakes the thought away like a pesky fly, blinking away the tears that formed in his eyes as he cleared his throat. 

  "Teylan, you don't h-have to.." Tamí'tey insists gently, but he just shakes his head quickly. 

  "No no- it's fine. Just.. Caught me off guard a little, is all.. I missed telling you things too.. When you first went missing, I-I kept trying to radio you to tell you things.. A-And I missed you."

  It was Tamí'tey's turn to feel that lump in their throat, feeling the familiar pressure of tears as they threatened to spill from their eyes.

  "I-I missed y-ya too pal." Tamí'tey craned their head back to look back up at Ri'nela, seeing the tears in her own eyes as she looked back at them- her lips curling into a tearful smile of assurance. 

  "A-And you R-Ri-Ri." They stammered out, trying not to think too hard about how cold they were starting to feel- they knew better than to say that out loud to worry their friends even more than they already were. "I-I missed y-you too." 

  "We all did." Ri'nela's reply is gentle, blinking her tears away as she lifts her gaze back up to scan ahead of them while Teylan stole a few glances over his shoulder- and he couldn't find any sign that anyone was following them as the trio disappeared into the treeline. 

  Ri'nela and Teylan both tried to keep Tamí'tey talking as they betrayed little shivers, the two of them carrying the feeling of that cold dread in their stomachs as they listened to Tami'tey's teeth chatter between sentences they stuttered out.

  Their old TAP training helped them both recall the signs that their fellow soldier friend was actively bleeding out.

  They both could tell it was happening. 

  The sooner they got to Anufi, the better their chances, and Ri'nela really began to debate Tamí'tey's wishes as the Samson came into view.

  Both Ri'nela and Teylan could make out Anqa's form anxiously patrolling the edges of the Samson, with her rifle half-raised at the treeline that surrounded her and Priya in the clearing- she found it getting harder to see due to the rain, but wasn't the trigger happy sort to just shoot at any little bit of noise.

  Anqa did her best to walk as softly as she could, her heart almost wouldn't allow itself to stay still enough to keep from drumming in her ears, steadily taking quiet breaths through her nose and out though her mouth to minimize both her anxiety and to hear for any incoming. 

  Three, sharp Ikran-like cries came from Anqa's 10'oclock- the signal she and Priya had been waiting to hear with stifled breaths, allowing for a sigh of relief to leave her while making an adjustment to the rifle into a neutral position by slinging it over her shoulder. 

  Priya shot straight up in her seat, having been anxiously fiddling with her tablet as she waited for them to arrive- trying to find all her limbs as she scrambled out of the Samson in time to see Teylan emerge first from the treeline- the foliage brushing over Tamí'tey, as they appeared on the stretcher, followed then by Ri'nela- her and Priya's grim expressions met as the human rushed to get the medkit without saying another word.

  Anqa tried to not betray her grimace at Tamí'tey's state as a small “Shit..” was uttered her breath‐ even in the dim light and her lack of night vision she could see the singed, tattered portions of their armor and smell the metallic tang of blood invading her nose; Anqa took a step to the side as Ri'nela and Teylan wasted no time getting Tamí'tey out of the rain. 

  Teylan climbed into the Samson first as he guided the stretcher in, stepping out the other side as he stood opposite  Ri'nela- the two of them finally being able to ease Tamí'tey down onto the floor of the Samson as Priya and Anqa climbed in. 

  Ri'nela would join them and Teylan wasted no time trying to make himself useful elsewhere, getting his tablet out to resume helping So'lek to get the Sonic Pulse Emitters (SPE's) downed- trying to keep underneath the Samson to stay out of the rain. 

  His hand goes to his neck to radio So'lek, tail lashing behind him. 

  “So'lek? Can you hear me?”

  Static, though he swore he heard grunting and gunshots. 

  He tried to ignore that growing pit in his stomach, Teylan just swallowed that hard lump in his throat and steeled his focus on the tablet; no time to freak out, no time to bombard So'lek with questions– just hack!

  Tamí'tey, at this point, was just doing their best to keep their eyes open. 

They could feel their consciousness begin to slip as with that heavy tug of their eyelids- unable to clearly make out what any of them were saying as they battled to stay awake. 

  ‘They all sound like they're underwater..’

  Tamí'tey felt something get set down by their feet, heavy enough to shift the weight around in the Samson- and someone else turned on their headlight, flooding the interior with cold, bright light. 

  Priya was unusually quiet for herself..

She wasn't a doctor, god- none of them were, but she knew enough from her time with the Resistance, everyone had to learn- and she knew just enough that it might get Tamí'tey the extra time they needed, and she had to push down any doubts she was currently having and just try.

  Priya leaned away as she reached for the other bag, nestled between the two front seats.

  This one looked almost like an insulated lunchbox more than anything- but when she unzipped it to reveal its contents, several liters of IV blood bags from the RDA's Avatar Program, a transfusion hand pump, and other essentials for field blood transfusion. 

  Ri'nela caught a glimpse of the bags, her eyes scanning the label as it clicked where they were from..

  “Is that?..”

  Priya let out a soft yet heavy sigh with a nod, knowing better than to say too much in front of Teylan and Tamí'tey. 

  “Alma wouldn't mind..” She said, managing to keep her emotions in check despite it all, picking up the vein finder from the kit as she took a glance at Tamí'tey, noting just how pale they looked- their eyelids fluttering painfully whenever Anqa's headlight passed over their face. 

  “It's a universal blood type, so- it should work for Tamí'tey..” Priya confirmed, already getting started on getting everything else she needed accessible before sanitizing and gloving up her hands.

  Ri'nela felt a swell of hope with the welling of tears in her eyes, her hand resting on Tamí'tey's forehead, letting her thumb tenderly stroke over the bridge of their nose as Anqa wordlessly turned on a light and started unpacking the medkit enough to have it all accessible. 

  The three of them worked together getting Tamí'tey stabilized, Ri'nela knew better than to remove the metal from their wound- not yet, they would have long been dead if she had pulled it when she found them, and they'd be dead by the time they got to Anufi if she pulled it now. 

  Ri'nela offered another dapophet pod to Tamí'tey's lips as the sound of a zipper getting pulled open caught their attention. 

  Their gaze flickered to Priya as she pulled out a clear glass bottle with some familiar branding and labeling- too familiar.

  So familiar in fact, Tamí'tey involuntarily jerked away and hissed as the whites of their eyes showed as the dapophet pod was unintentionally smacked from Ri'nela's hand- their body twisting as it screamed at them to get away- Ri'nela's hands raced to their arms while they flailed, Priya and Anqa leaned away in surprise- eyes wide at Tamí'tey's unexpected reaction. 

  “Tamí'tey?? What's wrong?!” Priya sounded distressed when she asked, her palms facing outwards- but so did the medicine.

  “Tam tam, Tamí'tey- tam tam!” Ri'nela pleaded as her eyes flew to Priya's hand, and it dawned on her why Tamì'tey was reacting like this. 

  “No- No, No Sky People's painkillers.” Ri'nela said as Tamí'tey just tried to catch their breath as they exhaled more than they inhaled- Ri'nela's hands desperately tried to sooth them, and her efforts so far had been working as their breaths started to even back out.

  Ri'nela had seen it all with Tamí'tey, and she knew enough to know if what she was doing was working for them or not- she knew how to not make it worse with them and Teylan when they became difficult to reach..

  Priya's brows knitted together apologetically as she put the bottle back up in the bag- zipping it back shut. 

  “O-oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea..” She tucked the bag of painkillers back by the rest of the medkit and reached for the other supplies she'd need instead- trying not to focus too much on the guilt as Anqa gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze..

  Ri'nela gently shook her head as Tamí'tey shuddered in a breath, their eyes squeezing shut briefly as they answered before Ri'nela could.  

  “It's okay P-Priya, I-I know you were just looking out for me.” They said as their head rolled to the side to look at her, mustering up a weak smile- and Priya just mustered one up for them too, even if she looked like she was gonna be on the verge of tears for a split second. 

  She just takes a breath. 

  ‘Get it together Priya, Focus. They all need you right now.’

  “We will just have to do with the Dapophet for now..” Ri'nela said as she fetched a fresh Dapophet from her woven bag, not bothering to look for the one Tamí'tey had slapped away.

  “I-I'm sorry for s-smacking your hand, Ri R-Ri.” Tamí'tey remorsefully said

  As Ri'nela fed Tamí’tey another dapophet, they all began their work in tandem, the only words being exchanged were instructions or requests for a bandage or antiseptic. 

  Priya cleaned their arm to prepare for the transfusion, Anqa and Ri'nela worked to get what they could of their armor off with a soft apology from Ri'nela as Tamí'tey squeezed their eyes shut.

  Even in their weakened state, Tamí'tey felt that flare of fear in their stomach as their armor was taken off, they couldn't help but feel small again- especially in a moment where they already felt so helpless.. But they managed to will themself through it as they just gritted their teeth, trying to remind not themself but their body that these hands were safe.

  They almost didn't notice the burn of the needle going in with how distracted they were by everything else, their eyes darting over to Priya's- her own flitting to theirs for a moment to meet, offering an apologetic look as she uttered a small “sorry, I know it hurts.”

  Priya worked on getting the set up secure, bandaging the line to their arm before she settled in next to Tamí'tey to help give the transfusion- and Priya could tell they were starting this just in the nick of time too with how pale Tamí'tey was- the vibrant deep teal of their skin had a faded and sickly appearance, like the polluted flora around RDA sites. 

  For the most part it was up to Anqa and Ri'nela now, hardly any of them noticed Teylan pacing around outside the aircraft nervously- stealing glances inside as he scanned the treeline and listened out for So'lek on the radio.

  His fingers did a complicated dance of swipes and taps as he rapidly pulled up different windows- deleting something here, taking down a firewall there, along with some trojans disguised as updates and–

  ‘I GOT IT!’ Teylan crowed to himself, his nervous energy exploding in his chest as his face broke out in a grin- not noticing the couple of tears that escaped his eyes as his hand flew to his neck. 

  “So'lek! I got it! You can still hear me right??”

  Static. 

  He held his breath for a second, his attention divided between the Samson and the radio as he listened- that cold dread seeping back into him again. 

  More static- but he heard a shout from So'lek, and that was enough for Teylan. 

  “Good enough for me! Listen, I found a way to open the fuel pipe hatches, get ready!” 

  Tamí'tey's eyelids fluttered when Teylan shouted So'lek's name, their head tilting backwards to try to get a better look at Teylan- but they only caught his lashing tail as he paced by the Samson. 

  Teylan's gaze was locked on the screen as his body paced on autopilot now, his hips swaying away from obstacles without looking (though he still dinged himself a couple times anyways, subconsciously misjudging the distance- still too laser focused on the task at hand to really notice.) as he closed in on delivering the final blow. 

  "So'lek! I did it! The sonic units are down!!” 

  Tamí'tey wasn't feeling any worse but not really feeling any better either, in spite of this however they managed to lift their head enough with what strength they had left to see Teylan popping out the other side of the Samson down by their feet, pausing with a hand on his neck as he had his back turned to the rest of them. 

  He peered over the tree tops at the ashen crown of the Aranahe's hometree, his dread getting swallowed down. 

  “So'lek?”

  The silence weighed down on them all even as Anqa and Ri'nela continued to work- Priya wordlessly praying to herself as her hands worked the transfusion pump wouldn't have to deliver even more bad news of death to the Resistance. 

  He felt the radio buzz under his fingertips as So'lek's voice roared through the radio, along with the shriek of an Ikran. 

  Teylan's skyward gaze caught it- the sight of Ìley and So'lek circling the crown of the hometree before diving downwards. 

  Teylan's heart lurched in his chest, without thinking he called for Ada- tucking his tablet away in his pack behind him as her wings began to beat overhead. 

  “Teylan!- What are you doing?!” Ri'nela almost shot up from her spot to stop him, but her hands were too busy helping to stem the flow of blood from the worst of Tamí'tey's wounds as she packed dressing into it around the metal embedded in there.

  Anqa couldn't get up to stop Teylan either, occupied with holding down Tamí'tey's involuntarily jerking body from the pain of having the wound further packed- they felt hot tears streaming down their cheeks, gasping out Teylan's name in an effort to call out for him, but the pain made them breathless- the dapophet couldn't touch the pain.

  “I'm going to check on him!” was his only reply, Ada barely had time to land before Teylan had hopped onto her back and made the bond, Ada's whole body reared up to mirror her rider's determination- letting out a sharp cry as she gave a deep flap of her wings, gusting the air around them as they took off towards the hometree. 

  “Teylan!!” Ri'nela called again with a lurch in her chest, cold despite her friend's warm blood coating her hands and arms- watching the two disappear from the view she had out of the Samson.

  Tamí'tey gritted their teeth with frustration and agony- every fiber of their being screamed at them to get up- to fight, to help.

  There was nothing they could do but lay there, even if they could get up- the pain and blood loss had left them in such a daze that Tamí'tey just had to allow themself to be helpless and useless.

  Tamí'tey burned out all their frustration, and as much as it felt like a failure to be this incapacitated and helpless, they finally surrendered to the fact they just couldn't do anything right now..

  ’Great Mother, please- just bring them back to me, that's all I ask.’

                                                            —

Ri'nela's voice carried off in the wind rushing past Teylan's ears as he took off on Ada, carrying them as fast as she could into the sky as Teylan's gaze took in the battlefield that was the home of the Aranahe. 

  Bodies of the RDA littered it below, the shattered windows of the amp suits glittering in the amber light from the dying flames, arrows jutting out of the soldiers like pin cushions- with only one style of fletching present on every arrow on that battlefield.

  The humans knew it well, and were any of them alive- they would have been wise to turn and run at the sight of the Dog Tag Warrior's fletching. 

  Ada rumbled in her chest, scanning the battlefield for any threats to her rider and finding none- even among all the bodies, not one stirred with breath. 

  Teylan and Ada climbed further, circling the crown of the tree where they saw So'lek dive, Teylan's gaze scanned intensely below as his grip anxiously tightened on Ada's saddle.

  It didn't take long to see two Na'vi laid out on the ground next to each other, taking the breath out of Teylan's lungs as he stared at them- it felt foolish to hope it wasn't So'lek and Wukula, but–

  Who else could it be?

  ‘No-’

  ‘No no no!!’

  As he and Ada descended, he confirmed his fears- So'lek and Wukula were laid out next to each other, facing skywards. 

   Ada gave a sharp shriek of distress as Teylan urged her to land quickly, the pair falling together as Ada folded her wings to her side to briefly dive. 

  Teylan couldn't land fast enough, and Ada shared both his eagerness and urgency to land as she caught her wings in the air at almost the last second- instinctively bracing himself for that lurch as Ada gave a little shriek, her wings flapping more rapidly as he descent brought them closer to the ground- landing just around a bend of the hometree. 

  Ada hadn't even completely landed before Teylan was hopping off of her, his heart pounding in his ears as his hand slid from her neck in a quick ‘thank you pat’ before he rushed towards So'lek- feeling tears welling in his eyes as his feet slapped against the concrete. 

  So'lek's ears flicked at the sound of feet, letting out a grunt of pain as he willed himself to sit up despite the utter exhaustion he felt- he felt like he was trying to move a mountain lifting himself up. 

  He heard Teylan's voice before he cracked open his heavy eyes. 

  “SO'LEK!!” Teylan broke into a tearful smile, wiping his face on his arm as he allowed his pace to slow the closer he drew to So'lek- his gaze flitting over his body for injuries as he dropped down next to him. 

  Teylan's hands drifted to So'lek's arms as he blinked away the drying tears, So'lek swallowed hard- the rain having long since cooled his rage and adrenaline, leaving him utterly drained.

  “T-Tamí'tey? Are they-”

  “Alive. They're all working on trying to get them stable before we fly them to Anufi, but they didn't want to leave without you.”

  So'lek felt a flare of exasperation for a split when he heard that, his brow tensing as he just sighs through his nose.. It didn't surprise him in the least though, he'd do the same if the roles were reversed. 

  That exasperation faded into unease, knowing it was just his fear of losing them making him feel like this. 

  “I see..” So'lek's voice is heavy, trying to get them stable meant Tamí'tey wasn't out of the forest yet- and despite everything else he felt right now, the fear and concern he had for them dominated the rest.. 

  The scan he did of So'lek so far showed him nothing grave or severe, though he could see the beginnings of deep purple bruises all over his body. 

  Teylan opened his mouth to begin to say something, but his attention was taken by the sound of wet feet padding across the concrete..

  Teylan's gaze found the source first, stumbling with his hand clutching his shoulder, his eyes finding Teylan's as he stared at him with an unreadable expression.. 

  “Nor?..” Teylan said almost with disbelief, if So'lek hadn't told him he had seen and been with Nor- he almost wouldn't have believed his eyes right now. 

  Fresh tears welled in his eyes, standing up and rushing towards Nor with his arms outstretched, crushing him into a hug as Nor betrayed a grunt of pain- with Teylan immediately withdrawing with apologies spewing from his mouth. 

  Nor offers him a tired but assuring smile. “It's good to see you too.” He says as he used his good arm to give Teylan a good squeeze from the side, before gesturing with his head towards So'lek. 

  Teylan's attention snapped back to So'lek a bit sheepishly, but So'lek's gaze offered no disappointment as he mustered a shadow of a smile in his spent state as he and Nor offered their hands out to So'lek to help him up- which he accepted, linking his arms with theirs as they lifted him up. 

  They made sure So'lek was steady on his feet, and as Teylan raised his free hand to notify Ri'nela and the others- So'lek beat him to the punch. 

  “Ri'nela, we'll meet you at the rendezvous point. Nor is with us.” So'lek was intentionally vague about the details of their destination, just in case any RDA were listening to their channels. 

  “Ma Nor? How is he?”

  “He is fine, neither of us sustained any major injuries.” Said So'lek.

  “Is Wukula–?”

  “Dead.” He affirmed, taking a glance at the fallen Na'vi's body.. It was such a waste.. Waste of a life, waste of a heart, waste of a man and warrior so consumed by hate and rage he rejected their Mother. 

Deep down, a small part of So'lek wondered if he hadn't taken the Path of the Promiser- would he have been like him? Rejecting Ewya? Relishing only violence and control?

“Get Tamí'tey and yourselves out of here. We'll be behind you shortly.” So'lek added before letting his hand fall away from the comms.

So'lek heard Ri'nela's sigh of relief over the comms, in the background he heard shuffling and voices- a mix of Anqa and Priya, though he couldn't really make out what they were saying through the background static. 

  He swore he heard someone else too, fainter in the background- was that his name? 

  His expression didn't betray that little lump in his throat, though his ears briefly pinned back as he exhaled through his nose- letting his hand fall away from his neck as he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. 

  “Do you have any Dapophet pods left?” Teylan asked, ending the lingering silence as he looked worryingly over the bullet grazes that he could see- hoping So'lek's gear didn't hide anything more severe from his gaze. 

  “No. No healing gel left either.” His eyes looking off to the side at the emptied first aid containers, Wukula had been a tough opponent to put down. 

  Teylan fished around in his pack, Ri'nela told him to always try to keep some on him- just in case of course.

  For as silent Nor was, the inner turmoil that raged in his head went on- it never really quieted down for him.. Looking at Teylan, all he could see was Alma's face in the window as her eyes went blank- the moment her life ended with bullets in her back. 

  He almost didn't hear So'lek say they should prepare to leave after swallowing his bite of dapophet, it wasn't good to linger here too long- even with RDA forces mostly decimated across the Kinglor forest.. 

  Who knows if they had more forces waiting in the wings?

  “Did you hear me, Nor?” 

  Nor shook away the thoughts with a huff, nodding as he straightened up. 

  “Yes- we should get going.” He said as the sound of a flying Samson reached all their ears- even from down where they were though they could tell it was Anqa's as they headed off in the direction of the Clouded Forest. 

  It didn't take long for the three of them to be up in the air themselves, despite his exhaustion- So'lek had regained just enough energy and relief from the dapophet to hold his bow, an arrow already nocked in it as he and Íley took the lead. 

  Teylan with Ada, and Nor with Reyfya, flanked themselves on either side of the Samson. 

  Teylan took the starboard position and Nor took port, with their bows half-drawn at the ready as they flew in formation with their heads on a swivel.

  All of them were exhausted in their own ways, so conversation was very little at first- the only sound coming from the engine of the Samson, the deep flaps of Ikran wings, and the wind whistling by their ears. 

  So'lek's gaze couldn't help but rest heavily on the Samson ahead of him, briefly willing Íley to break from the formation as they dipped off to the side, raising themselves to be even with the side of the Samson to peer in.

  The moonlight reflected the stark white blanket used to cover them as they lay on their side, shielding them from the cold bite of the wind as their head rested cushioned in Ri'nela's lap, her head resting on the wall of the Samson with her eyes closed- and Priya next to them gave So'lek a small wave as she looked over at him. 

  He couldn't really understand what was in Priya's occupied hand- it looked strange, like one of the human pistols but not quite.. It had tubes running through it, and even from here So'lek could see that one of the tubes ran under the blanket. 

  ‘Just a little longer, ma Tamí'tey. Please.’

  Íley gave a little rumble underneath him as his eyes rolled in his head to look back at So'lek, and his bonded's hand trailed his hand up the side of Íley's neck with a weary smile. 

  “Me too, Íley..” He murmured to him as they drifted back to their position at the bow. 

  Nor's eyes drifted over to Teylan and Ada, so much had changed in the year he was gone, Teylan had an Ikran of his own now.. 

  “What is her name?” Nor asked finally, his free hand giving Reyfya's neck a pat as she rumbled fondly at him. 

  The question stirs Teylan out of his thoughts, but it was a question he was happy to answer- giving Nor a little smile as he looked down proudly at his Ikran. 

  “Her name is Ada, like Ada Lovelace! The inventor!” His chest puffed out a little as his hand stroked Ada's neck affectionately. 

  Nor tried to hide his grimace as his blood ran hot with aggravation that Teylan would name her after a sky person- his tail flickered as his heart rattled in its cage, scratching and clawing at his chest so viciously that Teylan heard the odd noise from his grinding teeth. 

  “Of course you named her after a stupid sky person.” Nor replied bitterly, half-regretting the words that left his mouth, but part of him felt it was for his own good. 

  Still, he wasn't proud when he saw Teylan shrink on Ada, as his ears betrayed just how crestfallen Nor's reply made him. 

  Poor Teylan was trying to fight the pressure building behind his eyes as So'lek whipped his head over his shoulder to glare at Nor- and Nor saw actual disgust in his eyes. 

  Disgust.

  “The first time you see Teylan in a year and he's a Tsamsiyu- both of you are, and all you have to offer him is that?” With every word that So'lek says, Nor shrinks more and more in his saddle- his own ears burning with shame as Teylan wipes his eyes with little sniffle. 

  He finally forces his gaze forward, glancing at Nor for a second.

  “I-It's okay So'lek, really..” Teylan did his best to make himself at least sound okay, but he couldn't help but feel small again- like he was back in TAP, with Nor's disgust at his weakness with Mercer breathing down his neck.

  “Regardless. He shouldn't talk to you like that.” So'lek added, still facing Nor as he stared him down- half daring him to say something else, half daring him to look him in the eye. 

  And he did, betraying the burning shame in them but also- that lingering resentment, that look that told So'lek that Nor thought they were all the lost ones- and he was the one trying to save them, his cruelty justified if it meant saving them from the wrath of their Mother. 

  “I'm sorry, Teylan.” Nor finally broke his silence, barely giving him a glance from the side of his eye, his head giving a slight tilt his way. 

  Teylan gave a wordless nod of acknowledgement, his fingertips busying themselves with memorizing the woven leather straps on Ada's saddle. 

  So'lek's tail flicked, this wouldn't be the last of the discussion he'd have with Nor.

                                                          — 

Dawn was only a few hours away with how the morning fog blanketed the lower valleys of the Clouded Forest,

its cold, pale fingers wound between the tall pines and mushrooms, in the distance- the green fog of the yava lingered ever present. 

  The weary party finally made it to the hidden home of the Kame’tire clan, Anqa almost wouldn't have known where to land if it weren't for the GPS pin and So'lek taking point- from the air the primary home of the clan blended in so well with the landscape that it could be easily missed if you didn't know what you were looking for. 

  A few Kame'tire keeping watch over their clan at night patrolled on their ikrans, and they all broke off away from their posts to investigate the party- to which So'lek called out to them, and one of them called back, realizing now the Kame’tire were under no threat- one of the riders banked back towards the Hollows.

  With that assurance, the Samson began its slow descent, the change in the sound of the blades chopping at the air more slowly dragged Tamí'tey out of their torpor for a second- their teeth giving a little clatter as that cold seeped into their bones and joints. 

  Ri'nela stirred awake as well when Tami'tey's head shifted on her lap, her hand instinctively going to soothe itself over their head.

  She caught the weak fluttering of their eyelids as they struggled to keep them open, and Ri'nela couldn't help but glance over at Priya- seeing she was still working the transfusion gun in a different hand, as well as the discarded blood bags next to her.

  “I've been through four, they shouldn't be this cold..”

  Ri'nela tried to ignore that chasm of dread reopening itself in her chest, taking a deep breath through her nose. 

  “How many do you have left?..”

  “I-I packed eight, so- four left. We need to get the bleeding stopped.” Priya said, anxiously glancing at the fourth bag she was on, and it had little over half to go. 

  At least some of the color was back in their skin, but Priya was only buying them time- until the bleeding was stopped they were losing more than they made or got back.

  Ri'nela's eyes squeezed shut for a second as the Samson brushed the ground, taking another deep breath before looking back at Priya. 

  “They have gotten this far thanks to you.”

  She didn't know why she said that, but- she felt like Priya needed to hear it right now.

  Priya didn't even have time to process Ri'nela's words before Anqa climbed out of her seat and made her way back to them- hands braced on the seats as she carefully stepped over Priya and Tamí'tey. 

  “They'll be here soon, I saw a banshee rider go to the village when I was descending.” She said as she turned and knelt down beside them all, dwarfed by the two Na'vi crowding the floor of her Samson. 

  Ri'nela nodded as she gently cupped her hands underneath Tamí'tey's head, lifting it up carefully as they let out a small groan of pain and protest.

  “Anufi is gonna help you soon, okay? You're going to be fine..” Ri'nela said, and all Tamí'tey could muster out was an echo of her sentence weakly before they faded out again.

  “G-Going to be f-fine.” 

  Ri'nela swallowed hard that anxiety that welled up in her again, she almost didn't hear the footsteps that approached the Samson- but Anqa's and Priya's gazes lifted up to see Teylan and So'lek approaching the Samson.

  So'lek popped his head in first, his expression nigh unreadable if Ri'nela hadn't been able to see it in his eyes- betraying his fear and concern as his amber eyes darted from Tamí'tey to Ri'nela. 

  “How are they?”

  “They have been falling in and out of consciousness, Priya's been doing a blood transfusion- but we only have four bags left. With how much they're bleeding we don't have much time.”

  So'lek's ears pinned back as his tail gave a quick flick.

  “We're wasting time then.” He replied bluntly, reaching for the straps of the stretcher by Tamí'tey's feet as Ri'nela gathered her legs underneath her and crouched by them- Anqa helped her to ease their shoulders on the stretcher to make sure they were on it before helping to tuck their arms to their chest. 

  Their face grimaced with pain at the motion, but they didn't stir awake otherwise as Ri'nela's hands wrapped around the straps of the stretcher as Priya got up herself- taking the blood bag in her free hand and working the transfusion pump with the other. 

  “Can you bring the rest of the blood for me, Anqa?” Priya asked as she looked over at her, those bright eyes Anqa had fallen for were considerably dulled and distant..

  It made her heart ache quietly, though she gave her a nod as the three of them maneuvered Tamí'tey out of the Samson.

   Anqa grabbed the insulated red bag and followed them out, as they all heard the foliage rustling around multiple pairs of legs- revealing a party of Kame’tire approaching. 

  Anufi and Okul led the party of Kame'tire to the group, and it didn't take long for Anufi to realize what was going on.

  “Great Mother-!” Anufi's hand went to her neck at the sight of Tamí'tey- the blanket covering their body couldn't hide the smell of burnt skin, blood, and wretched metal. 

  “No time to explain yourselves- come come, bring them along- quickly now. The sky people may come too.” Anufi urged, waving them along as the warriors behind Anufi and Okul dispersed back towards the Hollows- some of them shouting out instructions and waving at unseen figures.

  So'lek and Ri'nela wordlessly followed Anufi and Okul into the hollows with Priya close behind them, despite how late it was now- much of the clan was awakened by the sound of Samson chopper blades and were now investigating what the commotion was. 

  Many pairs of eyes followed the group as hushed whispers spread like flames amongst themselves, no sky people had walked in the camp since before the Sarentu Moot massacre- so some of the Na'vi were a bit weary.. But some of the Kame'tire recognized the pair from the Great Games. 

  Anqa and Priya had to practically half jog themselves to keep up with the long strides of their Na'vi comrades all the way to Anufi's healing quarters- her space was bigger compared to the rest of the hollows, but she often shared it with patients or passers by. 

  “Here- set them here.” Anufi instructed, gesturing with her prosthetic to a mat closest by all her supplies and well lit- Okul didn't say a word as they themself got to work gathering things they and Anufi would need. 

  So'lek and Ri'nela eased the stretcher down onto the mat as Priya stood off to the side- close enough to keep the tubing from tugging on Tamí'tey's arm, but out of the way as Anqa shuffled a bit awkwardly nearby, her thumb fiddling with the zipper on the insulated bag, anxiously staring at the near empty one Priya was transfusing into them. 

  “This sky person and Ri'nela may stay- Okul and I need room to work.” Anufi would state plainly, looking at So'lek and Anqa expectantly as she picked up her mortar- Teylan's ears fell with a little “o-oh- alright then.. Let me know if I can help in any way.”

  So'lek takes a deep breath in through his nose as to avoid betraying his reluctance at the idea, shifting his eyes to steal a glance at Tamí'tey- and for a moment, his face revealed the full weight of that concern he had for them.. 

  “Very well.” He replies with a knitted brow, giving Anufi and Okul a dip of his head as Anqa goes to set the bag down within reach of Priya- leaning over to clink their masks together in a little “kiss” before she walks back the way they came- gently nudging Teylan as she passes by him as a reminder it was time to go..

  So'lek himself walked away with great reluctance as his fingers curled tightly into his palm- the sting of his nails digging into the calloused flesh.. 

                                                           —

  Sleep wasn't something that came easy to So'lek to begin with, staying asleep was a whole other thing itself- so his attempts to sleep this time were met rather.. Poorly. 

  He'd close his eyes, but every time he did all could see was the events of the past few weeks play out behind his eyes- and the moments that replayed the most in his head was when Tamí'tey was ripped away from him, and the moment they were engulfed by the explosives going off. 

  They had thrown a hand out with their palm flat towards him, their mouth mouthing a stop as the trap snapped shut on them both. 

  His eyes cracked open to stare at the shadows casted by the fire, Teylan was fast asleep by Anqa- who had politely offered her lap to the Na'vi while she slept slumped against the wall. 

  It did get the tiniest of smiles from So'lek for a second before he shifted his view to outside, noticing the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon giving the dusty hues of pinks and blues that now painted the sky. 

  He remembered why he was here though, and it wiped the little smile from his face as he gathered his feet underneath him. 

  With his hands braced on his legs, he slowly stood up- ignoring the aches and pains from his battle with Wukula earlier. 

  His ears perked at the sound of smaller, lighter footsteps- deducing they must belong to Priya before she ever even appeared as his eyes flicked to the entryway. 

  She stood there with a hand braced on the wood, carrying with her a pair of oxygen packs for her and Anqa's masks. 

  “Hey, So’lek..” She croaked out as she rubbed her face for a moment with a free hand- sniffling. 

  “Is-”

  “Tamí'tey's fine, stable. It was– a bit touch and go for a while… Anufi has them in some kind of induced sleep for the moment.” Priya responded as she sniffed again, trying not to think about it too hard- she went through every single bag she had and it almost wasn't enough. 

  It was like the weight of a mountain had been lifted off his chest as his shoulders relaxed- that sigh of relief shuddering out his nose while his eyes squeezed shut, trying to steady himself against the swell of emotions.

  He felt a small hand rest on his arm, his eyes cracking open to see Priya having stepped closer to him, offering him a reassuring smile despite the exhaustion she wore on her face. 

  Usually, So'lek wasn't fond of the humans touching him- but he had warmed up to a few more of them thanks to Tamí'tey..

  “Anufi said you can come by. Me and Anqa will need to leave soon, we only got one more mask change before we're out- and Alex wants us back by tomorrow anyways..”

  So'lek's ear flicks a bit, glancing back at Anqa and Teylan as they slumbered together nearby. 

  “I will escort you there, just in case.” So'lek said without hesitation. “The RDA are still out there, and the last thing any of us need right now is losing more-” Allies? No.. “Friends..”

  Priya sniffed a bit, letting her hand fall away.

  “Thanks So'lek..”

  “Go get some sleep, we'll go after Eclipse.” 

  Priya nods as she dragged her feet past So'lek, going over to Anqa and Teylan with the oxygen packs still in her occupied hand as she settled herself in by Anqa's left side.

  Anqa barely stirs, her eyes cracking just a faint sliver as she glances at Priya as her head rests on her shoulder- and it gets a faint smile out of her as she lets her head rest atop of Priya's. 

  So'lek allowed himself to linger for just a moment to observe the trio– but his focus kept flickering to Anqa and Priya as he felt a familiar pang in his chest, one he had only ever felt around Rimu and–

  ’Tamí'tey..’

  He never really expected to be done in by the Sarentu, but he had been- he couldn't remember the exact moment he started to develop feelings for them, the earliest he could recall was when they had made him a little Ikran figurine of Íley. 

  He almost felt the soft grass under his feet in the memory as he made his way to the healer's den, the warm sunshine illuminated his favorite details; the soft curve of their smile with that little fang peeking out over their bottom lip, the crinkle of the corners of their verdant eyes, and that dimple that only ever appeared when the smile was genuine. 

  ”What are you making?”

  They chuff as they wrap that colorful cord around the neck to bulk it up and make it sturdy. 

  “It's a surprise.” They respond with a playful chime in their voice, giving him even more of that toothy grin as they beamed ear to ear at him. 

So'lek had been so lost in the memory that he found himself in the entryway of the Healer's Den before he knew it- finding Tamí'tey had been moved from the mat closest to the healing supplies. 

  They were tucked away almost out of sight from the entry way, still positioned on their side as they rested on soft piles of moss and horned teylu fur. (Rid of the stinging furs, of course.) With Ri'nela sitting vigil by their side. 

  She had been half dozing when she heard So'lek's soft footsteps pause at the entryway, raising her eyes to him as she shifted and stretched in her spot.. 

  “How are you feeling?” So'lek asks her as Ri'nela shrugged- if anything she felt like she should be asking him that, the bruising that littered his body held deep, purple and almost black bruising in some spots- but he stood like he wasn't in any kind of pain. 

  The blood smeared on him had long since dried into a desaturated maroon, Wukula's bloody handprint was still there of his chest plate- smeared downwards as it dragged lifelessly down So'lek's chest in one last feeble attempt to attack him. 

  “I'm as good as I can be.. How are you?” She asks, sitting up straighter as she lets her elbows rest on her knees, glancing over at Tamí'tey as they slumbered heavily next to them. 

  Anufi had to come by periodically to tuck something under Tamí'tey's tongue- taking out the previous packet of potent resins with a swipe of her finger with the replacement of it. 

  Ri'nela figured that's what was helping keep Tamí'tey unconscious, which was a small mercy for them with the amount of pain they had been in. 

  “Likewise..” So'lek responds simply, making his way over to the two of them, grunting a bit as he knelt down next to Ri'nela- draping his arms over his knees and tucking his hands away into the crooks of his elbows. 

  “How long does Anufi plan on keeping them asleep?..”

  “Hard to say.. She said three to five days?..” Ri'nela replied with another yawn, bracing her own hands on her knees as she stood up- her knees popping audibly from the uncomfortable position she had been sleeping in.

  So'lek winces sympathetically at that, but Ri'nela shakes it off as she straightens up and rolls her shoulders.. 

  “I'm gonna go take a walk and check on everyone.. You said Nor came with you?”

  “Yes, though I haven't seen him since we landed.” So'lek's response was a bit flat, his tail tip giving a little twitch. 

  Ri'nela's ears drooped a bit, glancing towards the entryway..

  “I'll see if I can find him.. Will you stay with Tamí'tey for a bit?”

  “You don't even need to ask, go on.” He gently waves Ri'nela away with his palm outwards. 

  But before she could leave– So'lek cleared his throat like he was about to say something. 

  “And– Ri'nela? … Thank you. All of you.”

  Ri'nela dipped her head in response with a weary smile. “Of course.”

  So'lek made himself comfortable where Ri'nela had previously kept post as she left, crossing his legs together in the similar way he did when he was about to meditate. 

  He watched the slow rise and fall of their breathing, the stark white blanket that had previously covered them had been replaced with one made from the soft leather of a Meer Deer and the even softer wool of a Horned Teylu. 

  He could see the wound dressing peeking out around their uncovered shoulder, and much of the warmth and color had returned to their vibrant teal skin.. 

  They were carefully propped up on their side with a cushion of sorts wedged underneath their back to keep them that way- their arms were tucked close to their chest with their hands curled up underneath their chin. 

  The way they had Tamí'tey positioned was nearly identical to the way they usually slept- hands curled under their chin with arms tucked to their chest, the only exception here being their legs were straightened out when they usually slept with them tucked closer to their body. 

  He thought about all the times they had gone hunting and made camp together over the past year, enjoying the relative quiet together after the last RDA site was reclaimed- and with this the memory So'lek had been thinking of earlier crept back to the forefront of his mind..

  “I don't usually like surprises.” So'lek had said a bit flatly in response, though Tamí'tey could see the curiosity sparked in those amber eyes of his. 

  They just turn their gaze back to the project at hand with that smile still lingering on their face. 

  “I know you'll like this one.” 

  The more they worked on it, the more the figurine would take shape- resembling more and more of an Ikran, its colors reminding So'lek of his Ìley. 

  “Looks like Ìley..” He remarked with a little smile as they worked to put the finishing touches on it. 

  “Good- because it is Ìley.” They replied in a sort of playful, matter-of-fact way as they finally tied the last reed to imitate the dual kuru stalks that made up the crest of the Ikran. 

  They offer it out to him as his ears perked up, taking the figurine between his fingers- twisting it around his fingertips as he examined it from all sides.. 

  “I've really enjoyed our flights together, so- I dunno, I just wanted to make you something for it..” It seemed like they wanted to say more, but hesitation held them back. 

  The same hesitation had held him back, too.. And look what it both got them. 

                                                                      —

It had been difficult to leave their side. but So'lek had been assured that Tamí'tey wouldn't be awake till well after his return by Anufi and Okul. 

  Priya and Anqa had said their good-byes to everyone, and from the angle So'lek had been observing he could see Nor lingering nearby - out of sight of his family and the sawtute as they bid farewell to each other. Teylan and Ri'nela stood together to watch the Samson rise into the air as they waved them off. So'lek had twisted back to watch them grow smaller and smaller as he and Ìley rose further and ever further into the sky together. 

  The hum of the Samson's engines and the wind whistling by their ears was the only sound he heard for miles as the party made their way past the Clouded Forest and into the Spires. 

  Their destination lay just beyond them. 

  Occasionally, Priya and or Anqa would try to strike up a conversation with So'lek through the comms, but the warrior just kept his replies brief. He didn't sound short with them, but both of them could tell that even for So'lek, he had a lot on his mind and conversation wouldn't come easy. When they arrived at the new Resistance HQ, everyone there was there to greet the party, among them being Nalin, Alex, Louis, and a small handful of others. 

  It was all that was currently left of the human Resistance on this side of Pandora.. 

  They would continue to operate of course, but with Ardmore bearing down on the Resistance more and more everyday with the aid of the Mangkwan, it was too risky to continue the way they had. 

  Especially after the incident with Alma and the others. 

  It was risky enough Priya and Anqa had to come to their aid, but if they hadn't... It filled him with cold dread just thinking about it. Tamí'tey wouldn't be here if not for them.

  While he wanted to leave as quickly as he arrived, the warrior wasn't allowed to be in too much of a hurry. There would be a guest riding all the way back with him to the Hollows.

  Oppy was a little Hì'ispä - it translated to Little Jumper in the sky people’s language-  from the purple plains, not so much a pet as he was a companion to Tamì'tey. When they had been taken and the Resistance started to fall back, Priya had taken Oppy with her to keep him safe until he could be returned. Usually, these creatures were skittish things- but not Oppy, as soon as Priya brought him outside in his woven carrier he started to softly churr within it, jostling in Priya's arms as he sensed So'lek.

  The warrior chuffed at the little jumper's excitement, lifting the carrier that rather dwarfed the human carrying it, holding it at eye level for a moment. Its snout eagerly twitched as its “whiskers” reached towards him, investigating the wooden bars blocking him from So'lek, his ears lifting more as the warrior cooed.

  Priya smiled as she clasped her hands behind her back. 

  “Alex took great care of him while I was gone! He was a good boy otherwise. Though- he did get a hold of my ear buds…” She sighed out, reaching through the bars to give his tail a little poke- causing the Pandit to flip around and sniffle at Priya in indignation. 

  The thumping of his feet was met with a giggle from Priya.

  “Tamí'tey and I will keep an eye out for a replacement for you.” So'lek replied as he adjusted the carrier over his shoulders, it got a little smile out of her.. 

  “Keep us updated, alright?”

  “Teylan certainly will, I will try.” He said with a dip of his head. 

  It was finally time to say good-bye. 

  It wasn't hard to let Priya hug him around the waist (those seemed to help her more than anything, and- well. He would be lying if he said she hadn't grown on him, the hugs were tolerable). He returned it in kind with a hand on Priya's upper back; Anqa just smiled at him, giving him a playful salute before wrapping her arm around Priya's shoulder and leading her away.

  ”Safe travels my friend. Don't be a stranger, okay?” Alex tells him with that warm smile of his, giving him a friendly clap on the shoulder and a fresh RDA ration for the road. Not So'lek's first choice for a meal, but it was one he could stomach while he didn't want to stop for food. 

  With Oppy secure on his back, So'lek mounted Ìley without much more fanfare. He wanted to get back to the Hollows as swiftly as he could. 

  So'lek figured it unwise to go back the way he came, taking another route to make his way back to the Clouded Forest by following a river that reached the ocean, it would be there he would follow the coast to the Water Way Valley, and then The Hollows. 

  He hoped that would be enough to throw off anyone that might try to track him or his fellow Resistance. 

  So’lek welcomed the salty air of the sea as he and Ìley traveled down the coast. skimming the water a few times so Íley could fish. - but they would quickly raise themselves back up into the early morning sky again, trying to stay above the clouds to limit their visibility. There was nothing for the warrior to do but be alone with his own thoughts, and the solemnity of his flight reminded So'lek of the numerous mistakes he had made with Tamí'tey. 

  All the times he had hurt and let them down… 

  The first memory still filled him with shame with what he understood now of Tamí'tey's fascinations with human things: their music, their history, and the living and extinct flora and fauna of Earth.

  They had just been Tamtey then - a guarded Na'vi that had been opened up to Pandora for the first time. They had been particularly taken with the creatures, eyes lighting up with awe at the kentens and wuwuk le'awtus in particular. 

  “Kentens are… fan lizards, yes? They remind me so much of these lizards they had on earth once.” She didn't step as softly as he did, but he couldn't really fault her for that. 

  He just gave a small noise of acknowledgement, though Tamtey didn't really catch on to his disinterest.

  “The humans called them flying lizards Dracos - because the creatures reminded them of a fictional one they made up called a ‘dragon’! This big scaley thing with wings that could sometimes breathe fire! Though.. It did vary depending on the culture it came from! For example-”

  “Why do you speak of such things, Sarentu?” So'lek's voice was rather flat when he asked, barely glancing over his shoulder at her as he pushed through foliage. 

  Now when he looked back on the memory, he saw the excitement they had in their eyes extinguished, his words like a waterskin emptied over a campfire. 

  So'lek's soul quietly burned with regret of it even now.

  She fidgeted a bit with the songcord on her wrist as they both continued along the path, quietly grateful So'lek wasn't looking directly at her in that moment as her eyes stung with embarrassment. He was right, why did she speak of such things? These were sky people things, they weren't gonna help her be a Na'vi. 

  “I- I don't know...” she kept her gaze averted while her cheeks burned. “I-I guess it's all I know…”

  The heaviness of his regret weighed in his heart like boulders, and while he soon learned that this was their way of processing and loving Pandora- he didn't allow himself to forget how dismissive he'd been in the moment..

  “Oh…” Alma's dreamwalker had a thin, polite smile when So'lek recounted the interaction to her, having come to him to ask him why Tamtey seemed to have returned so glum...

  It didn't matter how tactfully Alma tried to explain, nothing could soften the shame he felt. He should have known better.

  When Tamtey opened up again about one of their human interests, So'lek took mental notes and not only paid attention, but made an effort to reply and ask questions. They seemed eager to answer them, after all. And he'd be lying if he said he didn't start to enjoy hearing their thoughts as they made rather interesting connections and noticed patterns that even he couldn't quite pick up on. 

  In turn, he was able to tell them things he knew about Pandora - the way they took it all in and memorized it like a Sarentu had him swell with pride.

  As So'lek brought his gaze to stare out at the wide, open ocean just there to this right - he found himself reminded of the open, verdant plains of the Zeswa. His mind wouldn't let him linger fondly on the beauty for long, the reminder of the Zeswa forced him to recall one of his greatest shames.... 

  And now Wukula accompanied that shame. 

  Wukula's face flashed in So'lek's mind as he sneered, bloody nose smearing his smile red, the glee in his eyes making So'lek's stomach churn. For weeks he couldn't bear to think of the torture they could be putting Tamí'tey through, but the thoughts invaded him anyways, and it was as if Wukula sensed that. When the Mangkwan confirmed his worst fears during their battle, the only thing that eclipsed the feeling of failure was the rage.

  “Your Sarentu puts up a delicious fight…” The ringing in So'lek's ears only grew with Wukula's sickening grin on his broken face. He relished that look in So'lek's eyes, the kind that asked: 

  What did you do?

  Wukula answered the question all too gleefully, the look he got in his eyes was the same he had whenever he twisted a knife to cause more pain.

  “All the things I did to them- nothing hurt as much as what you did at the Games.” 

  It chilled So'lek's blood the way Wukula said that with sickening gratification, watching as the warrior broke beneath him for a second as one of his greatest shames was ripped to the surface. 

  Eywa-, The Games…

  “..I've been debating on changing my name.. But I don't really hate my old name, I.. Still want it, in a way.”

  Tamtey had long since become Tamì'tey by then, a small but significant change to their name made not long after the attack on the Resistance and their discoveries at TAP CON-1.

  He remembered the way their hands were stroking their braid, something they did whenever they were overwhelmed and anxious. Their gaze was distant and cast off to the side. 

  “What brings this up, Sarentu?” Tamtey's eyes flicked over to So'lek when she heard the softness in his concern for her - and for a moment their eyes connected, before she forced her gaze away.

  “Okul opened my eyes to... Much about myself, that I had spent much of my life ignoring.” 

  They had become a formidable threat against the RDA by then. He wasn't the only Na'vi the sky people fearfully whispered about. Death on Wings was the subject of many conversations had by the soldiers, with or without mentions of The Dog Tag Warrior. 

  So'lek would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed by them - or even admired the Sarentu. The admiration was a fragile wall for So'lek, somewhere for his stirring affections to rest and cool. 

There had been attempts to prune his growing affection - but what he hated to admit as love for them was rooted too deep in his heart, blossoming in his chest as he fell more and more for them. 

  ”I was thinking about– adding a tìftang to my name, like you and Aha'ri… Both of you have done so much for me.”

  So'lek's eyes searched for Tamtey's face, finding her gaze was distant- speaking from some far away place within herself as her fingers fidgeted beads that woven into her braid.

  “You owe me nothing, Sarentu. Seeing you free was reward enough.” 

  There was a tenderness to his reply that brought Tamtey’s gaze just a little closer- not so deep in her own thoughts as a small smile crept on her lips.. The silence lingered between them for a moment, and out of all the things Tamtey could have replied with - he didn't really expect them to say:

  “I'm not a girl.”

  “Of… Of course you are not? Girls are children, you are not a child anymore?”

  Tamtey's ears perked up as she turned towards him - their cheeks puffing up before they snorted and busted into laughter. 

  “N-no! No, not like that.” She giggled, covering her mouth out of habit. 

  He had those flutters in his chest whenever they laughed, a smile tugging at his lips to reflect theirs whenever it curled up. He always felt lighter whenever he was in Tamí'tey's presence - quietly treasuring the moments they shared together. 

  Especially this one. 

  “I mean– yea, I'm not. Humans kinda use the terms interchangeably.” 

  So'lek felt his cheeks warm a bit as their laughter rang in his ears when finally understood what they meant. A big part of Tamtey was worried about a negative reaction, even with their newfound understanding of how Na'vi understood gender. 

  It wasn't something talked about at TAP.

  “I understand now, you are trying to tell me you are Mìkam?”

  Tamtey didn't know just how hard the relief would hit them with how... casually he asked that. She kept looking for disgust on his face and found none, none like what–

  They blinked rapidly to shake the thought away, letting a smile curl hesitantly onto their lips as they nodded with a little roll in their shoulders..

  “Yes?.. Mìkam seems to have a rather.. Broad definition.. Like, every Mìkam has a different expression.. When I met Okul, it was like..” Her throat burned as she felt her emotions swell in her chest, much to her distress - but her time as the Diplomat of the Sarentu and in TAP helped to get a hold of them before they got away from her.

  “Like.. My eyes were opened again, like with Pandora.. But something deeper in myself, stuffed down since TAP... Mercer didn't really like those kinds of things...”

  So'lek's ear twitched at the mention of that man, there was always a bit of a shift whenever he was mentioned.. 

  “You are more than whatever Mercer tried to make you be- and he does not get to dictate who you are or who you always were.” 

  Tamtey wasn't Tamtey anymore after that, not that he minded; Tamì'tey was more confident and sure of himself, they smiled more, laughed easier, finding time for the Na'vi communities of the Kinglor Forest, Upper Plains, and Clouded Forest. 

  They became the Sarentu they always could be, and more. 

  Tamí'tey found themselves in So'lek's company more and more often as the two of them picked off RDA and scouted together, and when they weren't taking care of RDA - they were hunting and gathering. It was time together disguised as working together. Any excuse the other could find to be closer with the other, they would take it. 

  “I need to stock up on coronis eggs for Storm, do you want to ride with me to the Plains?”

  “Tamì'tey, would you care to go hunting with me?”

  “So'lek, Ri'nela asked if I could gather some fruit while out scouting - care to ride with me?”

  “Do you need a hand on this hunt, Sarentu?”

  They always said yes to each other.

  Even the most mundane time spent together, disguised as simply being a good fellow to your Na'vi, brought So'lek a sense of joy and normalcy he hadn't had in a long time. 

  But there was a double edge to the joy that they brought him. 

  That was the fear. 

  His fear had many faces. It wore his loss, his grief, his regrets, his shame - the burdens of his past weighed heavy on his mind and soul, and the last thing So'lek wanted was to add his burdens to the ones Tamí'tey had to bear already. 

  He saw how heavy it weighed on them already, even with how well they carried it. 

  He was all too familiar with that distant gaze, seeking something so far away - it was just a memory. They deserved someone who could ease their pain rather than adding to it, having gentler, kinder memories than his own.

  Tamì'tey had seemed particularly bright at the Games when they finally caught up with one another - their eyes having much of that wonder he saw when they first took in Pandora.

  So'lek himself was looking forward to The Games, returning a small sense of normalcy to many lives of his fellow Na'vi, himself included.. He was enjoying seeing Tamí'tey and the other Sarentu enjoy themselves at the Games. Even Teylan was pushing out of his comfort zones by trying to befriend the gentle Zakru. 

  Something about the atmosphere allowed So'lek to relax the most he had in a long, long while. And as such, it also allowed him to let his guard down considerably. 

  Too much, he had thought, looking back on it…

  The Zangke had only loosened up So'lek's guard over the course of one of those long, golden days. He'd find himself gravitating towards Tamì'tey, brushing against the other as they passed by. They exchanged glances from afar more than they usually did, eyes meeting  with more deliberation than ever before. They’d even look for him whenever they completed a challenge to see if he was watching.

  He always was. 

  Part of So'lek questioned what he was doing, but a deeper, more desperate part of So'lek that wanted Tamí'tey spoke louder than his restraint. Every time they got close enough for the scent of herbs and amber to fill his senses, close enough for their arm to brush against his, close enough to feel the warmth radiating off their body as they found both of themselves dancing together, a little more of his restraint crumbled away.

  The night had been such a whirlwind that So'lek couldn't exactly recall the moment they found themselves drifting away from all the noise and lights. He remembered the sound of their laughter being carried away by the breeze, rustling through the grass as they both gave chase to one another. The world spun around the pair, and So'lek's arms found themselves winding around their waist while Tamì'tey's palms trailed up his arms as they seemingly both relished the other. 

  They collapsed together in a laughing heap there under the stars, not even paying attention to Tamí'tey being atop of So'lek at first as their tails intertwined with–

  The ghost of their touch haunted him as he was yanked out of his memories by the scent of Zeykoma- nearly as dizzying as the assault of memories had been, poor Oppy had been jostled in his carrier, voicing his displeasure with an indignant honk, and So'lek felt it shuffle about as the little jumper thumped his hind legs while Ìley gave a little shriek as his rider came to his senses. He detected the ikran's concern through their bond - to which So'lek sighed apologetically to them both, stroking his hand along Ìley's neck to soothe his friend as he finally took in his surroundings. 

  The Waterway Valley stretched out below them, welcoming them back to the Kinglor Forest - its verdance was virtually untouched by the flame of the Mangkwan. It didn't take him long to find the source of that scent - it was on one of the outermost islands of the Waterway. Even high in the air  he could see the white petals of the Zeykoma peeking out from beneath the trees. 

  So’lek urged Ìley to land. His Bonded’s wings burst out to catch the air and slow them down at the last moment, the grass brushing against his belly as he landed with a little trill. Oppy voiced his contempt at the landing by thumping.

  So'lek heaved himself off of Ìley with a grunt, welcoming the solid ground beneath his feet while he started to carefully shrug off Oppy's carrier. He was careful to not anger the little jumper any further, as he knew his kind were the type to hold grudges. 

  “Did you know they apologize to one another by touching their foreheads together?” Tamì'tey's voice echoed in his head, he could see that smile again, the little fang peeking out over their lip as they cradled a smaller Oppy to their cheek.

  “If they press back, it means they forgive you.” 

  So'lek's eyes squeezed shut as he shook his head, inhaling sharply through his nose as he pressed his forehead to the bars of the face of his carrier, looking into the softening gaze of Oppy as he curiously stretched his face towards the bars.

  His little whiskers inquisitively touched So'lek's face, drawing a smile from the warrior as he poked a finger through to stroke his snout, getting a small burr of contentment from him. 

  “I'll have you home with them soon. Just a little longer, paskalin.”

  He carefully set down the carrier by Ìley, mindful of how close it was to the Ikran so his bonded wouldn't accidentally knock it over; Oppy seemed to be quite pleased to be on solid ground again, burring a bit louder as he jostled his carrier.

  “Good work, ma eylan.” So'lek cooed to Ìley as he turned his attention to him, letting his hand to run underneath Ìley's jaw to scratch the underside of his chin - causing all his eyes to flutter and squint as he rumbled contented, deep from within his chest before his head tucked under his wing to scratch an itch.

  He reached into his pack to pluck  out a dried fish for Ìley he kept folded in a leaf; Ìley's head untucked itself as he caught scent of the fish, giving another rumble as his snout searched out So'lek's hand while the other stroked his broad brow. 

  The faintest smile tugged at his lip as Ìley's snout nudged into his open palm, carefully taking the fish from his hand to avoid nicking his Bonded's hand with his sharp teeth. 

  “Vewng ftue, ma eylan..” 

(“Take it easy, my friend.”)

  The Ikran rumbled again softly in reply, slowly blinking at So'lek as he watched the Na'vi walk away, his hand trailing off his snout.

  Tana'ring flowers carpeted the soft moss and grass, their own sweet scent a welcome addition to the bouquet the Zeykoma offered. Something in the scent reminded him of home. The comfort was fleeting though, that warmth replaced by that gnawing guilt as he knelt next to the Zeykoma. Out of the six fruits, So'lek carefully plucked only two, leaving the other three as gifts for any other of Ewya's children to feast on.

  He wrapped up one of the fruits, gathered with more of the stem left on- in one of the leaves of the flower itself , humming to himself as he carefully made a packet around the delicate fruit in an effort to preserve it long enough for Tamì'tey to taste it when they woke up.

  He was of course anxious to return to Tamì'tey, but as So'lek looked over at his bonded - he knew his friend deserved more rest before they finished their journey, a bit longer wouldn't hurt.

  As he made his way over to Ìley's saddle to tuck away the extra fruit, he idly eyed the Tana'ring that nearly covered the mossy carpet beneath - giving a quiet hum in thought as the flowers swayed gently in the salty breeze. 

                                                             —

  The sun was beginning its gradual descent by the time So'lek returned to the Hollows, ignoring the ache in his back and hips as he dismounted Ìley with a little grunt. 

  He steadied himself with a hand braced on Ìley's neck while he stretched and shrugged Oppy's carrier off his back, before hauling his harvest of Tana'ring flowers onto his shoulder - their sweet fragrance wafting up to his nose as the flowers jostled around in their sack. 

  Oppy had been relatively quiet up till he felt them beginning to land, the carrier bumped about from his excitement as the little jumper trilled when he felt his carrier being shifted around, pressing his snout and whiskers through the bars.

  So'lek felt a bit more at ease with the familiar scent in his nose upon return to the Hollows, welcoming the soft moss and peat on his feet as he made his way towards the Healer's Den. His gaze wandered about the camp as he watched the Kame’tire go about their day to day, a smile tugging at his lips as he glimpsed a shadow puppet show being put on for the children. 

  So'lek's eyes had been too busy wandering about when he first entered the Healer's den - it was then the scent of soap brushed against his nose freezing his steps as he walked in on Anufi and Okul finishing giving Tamì'tey a bath. 

  Their hair was undone, set carefully behind their head in neat cascading lengths - which Okul was currently brushing out with an oiled comb while Anufi busied herself with emptying out the basins. So'lek sheepishly took a step back while he averted his gaze away from the trio, despite Tamì'tey being covered with a sheet.

  Anufi smiled at him as Okul chuffed to himself, returning their attention to Tami'tey's locks as he worked the comb through it - giving So'lek a playful hum as he waved, pulling the bag of Tana’ring off his shoulder and adjusting Oppy's carrier. 

  Anufi greeted him back while Okul dipped their head, glancing back at him while the Tsahik made her way over. “Oel ngati kameie.” 

  “Oel ngati kameie, Ma So'lek. How was the journey?” She asks, examining the warrior as her hand brushes over his shoulders, the scent of Tana'ring flowers catching her attention.

  “Long.” He replied, following Anufi's gaze towards the bag. “I brought Tana'ring. These flowers were very prized among the Trr’ong for their pain relief.” 

  Her ears swiveled in pleasant surprise as her smile grew warmer, taking the bag in her wooden hand to take a peek at the white petals, scooping up a handful to examine them closely.

  “I have never seen these before…” She remarked with soft awe, her nimble but aged fingers giving a delicate petal a little squeeze.

  “They aren’t native. I started to see them after the Mangkwan and RDA started their attack on the Kinglor, blooming near Zeykomas and Tarsyus.”

  Anufi's gaze flickered to his and back at the flowers, musing over his words as she turned and brought the flowers over to her herb table as So'lek took another step back. He’d done his duties - it was safe to assume he should leave for now with Oppy.

  “Where are you going?” Okul asked, lifting his gaze.

  “To let you work?” He says as he pauses, looking at them both with a bit of confusion. 

  Okul shrugs as he combs another section of Tamì'tey's hair, their eyes flickering to Anufi with a bit of a wry smile- and Anufi seemed to understand what Okul was implying with his look.

  “Why don't you stay for a spell? I'm sure you're tired, you could help Okul braid their hair? My fingers ache terribly right now, and well... Your bruises look like they could use some of my medicine.” Anufi suggests as she sets the basins aside to dry, a coy smile pulls at her lips as she casts a look at Okul from the corner of her eye.

  So'lek's ears lifted at the suggestion, his heart skipping a beat as his gaze flicked back to Tamì'tey and Okul.

  “I could use the help.” Okul's tone was playful, practically singing the sentence as So'lek allowed himself to finally step closer. “And Oppy has been patient enough.” Okul added as the Hì'ispä gave a frustrated trill in his carrier, thumping in indignation at being kept in any second longer. 

  “...Only to help.” He says as he settles himself down besides Tamì'tey's other shoulder, finally placing down the carrier to unlatch it, scooping his hands under the little jumper like he was rising bread and setting him besides Tamì'tey's arms.

  Okul hands him an extra comb, the tines of it already oiled. 

  So'lek takes it from him with a nod, while the Tsakarem returns their attention to Tamì'tey and the Tsahik begins her work on the salve; Oppy's whiskers and snout lightly ghosted over Tamì'tey's arm as the little jumper tried to investigate his friend, the little churr that left him more subdued and solemn than any sound he had made since So'lek retrieved him, resting his head on their arm with a little huff.

  The two of them made idle conversation while they braided Tamí'tey's hair. He never conversed much with the young na'vi before, though from their few interactions he could see why they and Tamì'tey got along so well. 

  Okul seemed to share his sentiment in decorating their hair. He noticed a few new beads and shells among the ones Tamì'tey usually wore carefully woven into their smaller braids. So'lek wove some of the nicer flowers into the braid around their kuru, extra mindful of his hands and the tines of the comb as he worked his way down. Despite his calm exterior, his heart fluttered in his chest like a trapped shimmerfly. 

  There was something intimate to him about braiding their hair, securing it just right as he reached the end of their kuru, lingering there for a moment before letting it slip from his hand. Okul had finished as well, admiring their work for a moment before he stood up, glancing down at So'lek as he rubbed his hands together. 

  “You have had a long journey, you should get some rest.” Okul offers him a smile. “Before I turn in for the night, I'm going to fetch you and Oppy something to eat.”

  “I am fine.”

  “Mm.” Okul's lips quirked with amusement. “I will be back, keep him in line Oppy.” He said with a little wave as So'lek opened his mouth to insist he would be fine, but Okul made his exit from the den before he could. So'lek let out a defeated sigh - who was he to argue with a Tsakarem? 

  Oppy's ears all raised like sails at the mention of his name, snout twitching as he raised his head to follow Okul out of the Healer's Den, before dropping his head back down onto Tamì'tey's arm. 

  Anufi herself decided to make herself scarce too, having long since finished making So'lek's medicine and other little projects she needed to finish before she went to dinner and turned in. 

  “Apply the salve when you get a chance. Tsìltsan txon, So'lek.” (good night)

  “Tsìltsan txon, Irayo.” 

  He posted himself near Tamì'tey, facing the entrance, arms and legs knotted together. Watching the rise and fall of their Olo’ekytan’s chest from the corner of his eye helped put his mind at ease…

  …

  Sleep wasn't usually able to sneak up on So'lek, so it surprised him when he opened his eyes to darkness.  

  His only source of light was the orange glow of the fire, just enough to make out his surroundings. So’lek had relaxed in his sleep, and someone had covered him in a blanket. He stole a glance around the healer's den, before allowing his gaze to go to Tamì'tey, checking their chest to watch for the rise and fall of it, just to be sure. 

  So'lek quickly deduced that the smaller, stirring lump under the sheet by the bend of their knees was Oppy, his little hind legs kicking out every now and again as he slumbered. 

  So'lek's hand almost moved of its own accord, allowing the back of his fingers to brush over the mark over Tamì'tey's cheek, just for a moment. 

“I will return, ma yawntu...” The words slipped past his lips in a faint whisper meant for just them, letting his thumb swipe over their cheek one more time before he gathered his legs underneath himself and stood.

  Okul had left him with pine nuts in a small pile next to So'lek's head. 

  So'lek took his meal on the go with him as he snuck out of the Healer's Den to go stretch his legs, enjoying the solemn quiet of the earliest hours of the morning. The skies above him were already shifting hues, painted with deep lavender and cobalt as the sun made its approach. He stayed just long enough to watch the first hues of amber blaze the skies at the horizon, beginning his way back to the den just as the first of the Kame'tire started to stir. 

  He didn't allow himself to sit as close to them as he had during the night, crouching down off to the side with a more direct view of the entryway while he kept vigil over Tamì'tey. 

  He was there throughout all the visitors they got throughout the day and the periodic check-ups from Anufi or Okul. 

  So'lek would open up more whenever the children came by to visit, his usually flat expression shifting warmly as they hovered around the unconscious Sarentu with little offerings; leaving with them various trinkets of little paintings on strips of bark, a few interesting rocks (or at least what the children thought looked interesting.), hand-made toys shaped from river clay or wood, and a new woven leather bracelet tied around their left wrist.

  One of the children was more interested in Oppy than the unconscious Sarentu, watching the little jumper use his snout to root around in a wooden bowl for the grubs he had been offered, offering happy little churrs as he feasted.

  A smile curled faintly on So'lek's tired face when the other Sarentu stopped by, led by Ri'nela and Rasi. Teylan didn't trail behind them as far as Nor did, his weary eyes wandered about the den only to stop when they found Tamì'tey. 

  So'lek noted the way Nor's eyes softened for a moment when he looked at them, his arms uncrossing and falling to his side as the other Sarentu gathered closer.

  Teylan was closest to Tamì'tey's side, crouched down a respectful distance from them as he observed the offerings from the children, chuffing fondly at a portrait drawing that one of them made. 

  “Looks like them.” He says mostly to himself, rummaging around in his pack to pull out his own offering for Tamì'tey, the sound of mylar crinkling as he pulls out a bright yellow and red bag.

  So'lek was familiar enough with the kind of human treats Tamì'tey still had a soft spot for, despite not being able to read the text on the bag he could recognize it as some kind of treat.

  “Tamì'tey likes those.. What are they called again?”

  Teylan perked up at the question, ears raised with his smile as he set the bag down with the rest of the offerings. 

  “Nilla Wafers, Raph used to sneak these to us all the time. They usually come in a big box.”

  So'lek's smile had a saddened edge to it at the mention of Raph. It was a nickname for a human all the Sarentu had been close with when they were children. Tamì'tey had told him once he was the closest person they ever knew to be like a father to them, the only human at TAP to ever directly stand up to Mercer. 

  “That is very kind..” So'lek remarked quietly, touching a hand to Teylan's shoulder as the young man looked up at him, returning the smile to So'lek before his attention shifted back to Tamì'tey. 

  “They'd do the same for me.” Teylan replied, making an adjustment to one of the gifts that had fallen over. 

  So'lek gave him a pat, before it drew away from Teylan's shoulder as he gave an agreeable hum. He took a couple steps back to give him space, only a couple steps apart from the Sarentu's Tsahik.

  It was then that Ri'nela took notice of the white flowers woven into Tamì'tey's braid, their sweet scent clinging to So'lek as well.  It clicked for her that this was So'lek's offering to Tamì'tey, Ri'nela couldn't resist stealing a little glance at So'lek from the corner of her eye, which betrayed the smile her lips wouldn't give away. 

  “How are you holding up?” She finally asks him, the tip of her tail flicking in-time with her ears as she fully turns her gaze to him. 

  So'lek's ears raise at her question as he turns to meet her gaze. He ducks his head before he answers. 

  “I am fine, nothing I cannot heal from or sleep off.” He replied as her gaze traveled over his body. The bruises were starting to fade, at least. 

  “As much as that might be the case, you still need to tend to your injuries. I know these could look a bit better by now...” When she lightly brushes her fingers over a bruise on his arm, his ear twitches a bit - but he doesn't pull away, meeting her gaze as she looks up at him. 

  “Irayo, Ri'nela, but I am fine.”

  “Stubborn as they are.” She says with a tsk, not arguing with him further as she walks over to the healer's station - taking notice of the poultice in the bowl, and she couldn't help but lift it up to sniff it suspiciously. 

  She sighed and looked at So'lek. 

  “Anufi already made you something for your bruises. Did you forget to use it?”

  So'lek's ears flattened as she came over to him bowl in hand. The warrior knew better than to argue with a tsahik. 

  “I was tired from my journey.” He replied simply as she started to apply the salve to his bruises. 

  “Not so tired that you wove flowers into their hair…”

  “What?”

  “I said you need to take better care of yourself. We only get one of you.” 

  He had heard what she said the first time of course, he wasn't deaf - but he decided to not push it. She was right. 

  So'lek had been doing the minimum to keep himself running the past several weeks, all while nearly single-handedly beating back most of the RDA and Mangkwan forces near nonstop, ripping across the frontier looking for Tamì'tey. 

  He was tired.

  And even now as he found more rest than he had in weeks, he couldn't allow himself to relax. He was on edge, half expecting an attack here at the Hollows, half expecting Tamì'tey to stop breathing. He sighs heavily through his nose as he observes the other Sarentu members around them, finally finding a response…

  “I've had much on my mind.” 

  Ri'nela's gaze only softened more as she moved onto the next bruise, the pain he had been ignoring being cooled away.

  “I'm sure. Try to take it easy for us, ma eylan.” 

  He half wanted to ask her if she had told Teylan about Alma and the others, but given how he was acting, So’lek had his answer.

  When she looked up at his face to check on him, she was a bit startled by how directly he was looking at her.  His expression caught  her in such a way that she understood to follow it when it glanced at Teylan out of the corner of his eyes. Her veneer shifted for a fraction of a second, her ears lacing with the shame before her face forced a neutral emotion- swallowing her shame to resume her duties. 

  “Tomorrow. I will tomorrow.” She tried to say as quietly as she could, swallowing the dry lump in her throat. 

  His eyes shifted to Teylan, watching him show Nor things on his tablet.

  “If you don’t, I will before Tamì'tey wakes up.” So'lek replies. 

  She nodded in reluctant agreement.

  Nor managed to keep things rather pleasant with the other Sarentu - even as Teylan tapped around on his tablet and showed Nor all the pictures Tamì'tey had taken and sent him on their adventures. 

  “Look at this picture Tamì took of a Thanator!-”

  “Palulukan.” Replied Nor.

  “--Right, Palukukan!”

  Nor's eyelids gave subtle little twitches every time Teylan's fingertips tapped the screen. 

  “Oh!! And you should see Nopsi! She's really cute and friendly!-”

  The Sarentu clan eventually took their leave as the day began to wane into the evening. Teylan offered to watch Oppy for a few hours - which So'lek gratefully obliged , making sure he took Oppy's carrier with him in case he took him foraging. 

  “I'll bring him back before I turn in! I'll take good care of him So'lek, don’t worry.”

  “I know you will.” Teylan's ears lifted at the way So'lek's reply sounded so sure, his tail giving a happy twitch as he rubbed Oppy's ears, dipping his head to him before he turned away to make his exit. 

  So'lek found himself alone with Tamí'tey again.

  It had only been almost two years since meeting them. In that time Tamì'tey had opened up parts of himself he hadn't let any other Na'vi see. Not for a long time at least. 

  So'lek had spent… so long, keeping to himself. Even with the company of the Resistance, he was aloof and distant from the Sky people. They shared similar goals and their hearts were in the right place. But they weren't his clan, a clan, and he yearned for that connection to other Na'vi again.

  He had found that and more when he took the Sarentu survivors under his wing, but Tamì'tey began to gradually spend the most time with him out of them all. 

  Tamí'tey had been eager to hear anything he could tell them about the Trr'ong, but there was so much of his life even before The Battle of Aryam Alusing he never told them. It felt unfair to have these feelings for them when he never really let them in. But he couldn't deny that flutter in his chest whenever Tamí'tey laughed deep from their belly, the ache that he felt sometimes when he saw something beautiful and they weren't there to share it with them, the yearning he had to just… 

  Lost in his thoughts, the So’lek crept closer, lacing his fingers with theirs. He could indulge, just this once. Tamí'tey would never remember, and it wasn’t like there was anybody else around to witness his affections. 

  Someone quietly clears their throat behind him.

  ...He had also been too lost in his thoughts to notice Rasi standing right there behind him. 

  “.... I did not hear you come in.”

  The older Sarentu smiled, the corners of her eyes deepening as she crossed her hands in front of herself. “I did not soften my step, but you don't need to be looking  for danger as much here, either.”

  So'lek sheepishly cleared his throat, feeling almost childish that his cheeks betrayed just the faintest dusting of a warm purple as he just looked back at their conjoined hands. 

  Part of him debated pulling away, but what good was it now? She already saw it. 

  Rasi carefully steps up to Tami’tey’s bedside, letting her gaze wander over the gifts the clan's children had left them. 

  “The children keep asking me when they're gonna wake up and tell them stories...” Rasi says.

  “Their impatience is expressed most outwardly, but yours on the other hand – you manage, but I can sense the ache.”

  So'lek's ear flicks at that, a soft sigh leaving his nose. 

  “There is no ache, I am merely concerned for their well-being.”

  “So that's why you haven't left their side since you came back from the Spires?” Rasi quips back, her tail swishing side to side as So'lek's flatten yet again - she knew the warrior would need to feel pressure before he would ever admit to anything. 

  Admit, in particular, to the truth she was aware of already. 

  “I–” He started to say, but all the replies he had died on his tongue and he faltered, looking away. 

  “I may have spent the better part of thirty years alone, but that does not mean I cannot See.” She lets her gaze drift to their slumbering face, taking note of the loose strands of their hair having been tucked behind their ears..

  “And what is it you See, exactly?”

  “What I told them. A good pair.”

  So’lek kept his face hidden from Rasi, but she could tell the blush had deepened considerably on his face by how it traveled to his eartips. 

  “Even if– even if that were the case,” He stumbled a bit over his words as the barriers he put up began to crumble. 

  “They deserve someone less... Battered than me. Less broken. They already have so much to deal with, they need someone that will lighten their burden, not weigh them down even more..”

  "Funny."

  "What is?"

  "It's almost the same thing they said about you, too."

  So'lek's ear flicked as his gaze lifted to Rasi's.

  "Tamí'tey..?" He tried to form a question out of the dozens that jumped to mind, but he froze.  Rasi's gaze was gentle as she just touched So'lek's arm- looking the warrior in the eyes. 

  "Feels the same way you do. Every bit of it." 

  He looks back at them, deep in that herb-induced slumber to help them sleep through the worst of the pain. Anufi said she would let them wake in the next day or two, but the wait was agonizing. 

  “Did they.. Tell you what happened at The Games?”

  Rasi's smile grew a bit thin, the corners of her eyes crinkling a bit as she gave a little nod. 

  “As I said. Every bit of it, skxawng.” There was no venom in the playful insult. So'lek still can’t bring himself to look directly at Rasi, but from his peripheral he can see her slowly easing herself down to sit across from him and Tami'tey.

  "Even a Talioang (Strumbeast) can see the care you have for one another." Rasi says with a little chuff as she gives his arm a light push, and it even got a ghost of a smile for a second on So'lek's face. 

  "You two are no strangers to unimaginable loss. You have both experienced enough grief and trials for one lifetime.” Rasi continued, her weathered hands folding into her lap as she watched the steady rise and fall of Tamí'tey's chest - much like she did back when she first met them. “But that distance will not bring you both peace, neither does it truly protect you or them from the hurt that love can bring. Love is always a risk, and loss comes with it yes - but ma eylan, the grief that follows is proof that the love is there. You can either allow yourself to feel it fully together, or live with this feeling that you sit with now, and is it really one you can bear your whole life?” Her voice had a sorrowful tinge to it as she spoke from experience. 

  He could see from the distance in her eyes there were things Rasi had left unsaid herself. 

  "I'm- I’m a coward, Rasi.” He admits, voice solemn, like there was no room for any doubt about his character. “I am terrified of losing them.. As if keeping them at bay would make things easier even if– if something did happen–” 

  But something had happened.. Though he loathed to remember what Wukula had said, he knew it was the truth…

  His gaze got heavier as it rested on Tamí'tey's stirring chest - he half-expected for it to stop rising at any moment.

  “My fear held me back, and in turn it got them hurt. In. More ways than I even care to imagine.” So'lek sucked air through his teeth, his head bowing towards Tamì'tey's knuckles as he raised their hand to his forehead. 

  “I-I couldn't protect them from the RDA- from Wukula, from being locked up again- what good am I, Rasi? What good would I be as a mate? I failed them.”

  Rasi didn't interrupt the silence as she observed the steady warrior so bowed, hiding his tears from her out of shame, and it was much like a knife to Rasi's heart to see him like this.

  “All I could think was– not you too. Begging Ewya, praying to our Mother to spare them, to allow me the chance to free them from the RDA and bring them home..”

  Even seventeen years on, the grief that haunted him was just something he kept finding ways to live with the memories, such as the near nightly terrors that plagued his dreams – of bodies falling through smokey skies, filling his nose even now with the metallic tang of their blood and scorched flesh so many years later…

  Tamì'tey's scorched flesh smelled just like the burnt corpses from the battlefield in his dreams, unsure if the warmth from their body was because they were still alive or from the ritual fires of the Mangkwan he pulled them from.

  “Not you too - please ma Tamì'tey.” It was barely a whisper under his breath, trying to ignore the warm blood on his arms as he limped out of Hometree with them, hoping for any signs of life from them he could believe..

  “You can hold on- I know you can, y-you are not dead. You cannot be dead. Please. Please!”

  Rasi could see the little tremble in his shoulder as his eyes squeezed shut- ears lacing back. He was usually so composed, an iron grip over his emotions, but So'lek could only hold back so much when it came to the Na’vi he loved.

  Her heart ached as she eased herself closer to the warrior, brow softening as she rested her weathered hand on his shoulder.. 

  “Ma So'lek, are you worried about being a good mate? Or are you worried about being good enough for them...?” Her free hand touched her heart before she pressed it to So’lek’s chest, which made his tearful gaze finally lift to meet Rasi's. 

  For a moment, So'lek almost felt like a boy again, the warmth of a mother shining through as her fingers squeezed his shoulder. 

  “For over thirty years, I believed myself to be the last of the Sarentu. I hid away from the world, plagued by the visions of that terrible night… And further so with the knowledge that our clan's children were ripped away..”

  “When I found them, part of me wanted to run away and hide- the mark on their cheek struck more fear into my heart than the Sky People did that terrible night,” Rasi's eyes squeezed shut as she spoke, the screaming and gunshots still haunted her nightly, and ever since Tamì'tey had become part of her life- Kataru had become a more frequent sight in her nightly terrors... 

  “It confirmed my worst fears, that my own were suffering out there - and I wasn't there to help… It is the way it is, we cannot undo the past - much as we try to live in it, to reclaim some part of that moment and change it, but it cannot be changed.” As she said this, their eyes searched for one another's - seeing even now he had a hesitation in his amber gaze.

  “There is no doubt in my heart that you two would make a good pair, and I promise you- others can see that too. It's only you two that hold yourselves back from one another…”

  “I have so many burdens, Rasi. Even now, it feels unfair to put that on Tamì'tey...” 

  “Do you feel burdened by theirs?” Rasi asks plainly, holding his gaze. 

  So'lek's ear flicked as he looked away. She knows the answer before he even says. 

  “No.”

  “Both of you believe the other will be hindered by their own pain. But I know for a fact you two will be stronger for it.” 

  Her eyes landed on Tamì'tey for a moment as she thought of how tenderly they had spoken of So'lek, and how their gaze seemed to always have more light in it whenever he was nearby, more present in the moment as if they were etching it all into their memory…

  So'lek allowed Rasi's words to fully register, cupping Tamí'tey's hand in both of his own as a sigh of resignation left him… 

  He lifted Tamí'tey's hand to his cheek, brushing it over their knuckles as he studied the lines etched into their face. The evidence of their time in TAP had aged them, and he swore they were more prominent than when he last saw them. 

  He felt a frown tug at his lips, pressing it into the crook of Tamì'tey's thumb as he held their hand to his lips, unable to tear his focus away from their face as he tried to find a reply for Rasi.

  “I do think, at the very least... we will discuss it.” He finally relents, ear flickering at the sigh that left through Rasi's nose as her fingers fiddled with her songcord. 

  “They have been through much, and if they still want me when they awake - whether in time or sooner, then they may have me.” He finally lowers their hand back down to their side, allowing his hand to remain interlocked with their fingers. 

  Rasi's gaze did lift to So'lek at that, her tail flicking behind her before it curled around her crossed legs. 

  “They'll have you, ma eylan.” Rasi sounded quite sure of that too, practically hearing the smile in her voice as she smoothed her hands over her lap. 

“They find a sense of safety in you. After knowing so much cruelty, a touch as careful as yours will be welcomed.” 

  So'lek's ear twitched a bit as Rasi realized what slipped past her lips, watching his tail drag behind him in a little lash. 

  “How much do you know?”

  “...How much do I know, what?” Rasi asked. The forced normalcy in her voice made it evident to him that she knew what he was referring to. 

  “Mercer. What he did.” 

  His reply only made her heart race more, his tail tucking to his side. She couldn't see his gaze growing more and more distant. She didn't want to ask the question, and she dreaded the answer. She knew there was no way Tamì'tey had ever told him before. It was one of the things that held them back for so long from ever telling him their true feelings - which made their botched confession all the more crushing to their spirit. 

  Rasi's head lowered as she looked off to the side, the answer hesitant to leave her. Saying it aloud meant confirming her fears.

  “Like everything else, everything.” She empathized. 

  With a heavy silence in the air that weighed on them both, he knew her question was coming - the question that in her heart, she knew the answer to. 

  “How did you know...?”

  So'lek couldn't bring himself to look at Rasi, feeling his eyes sting as he blinked away the tears. He couldn't stop it, he couldn't stop any of it, Ewya – He didn't even save them from their prison, from that terrible box of concrete, glass and metal. 

  “Wukula told me.” 

  Rasi's hands raised to her mouth, staring at the back of So'lek's head as the weight of those three words fully registered with Rasi- shattering what little hope she had that just perhaps she had been overthinking it all, that despite everything that happened it wasn't that-

  But it was.. 

  “How did- how could he have…”

  So’lek finally turns to look at her. Just enough, so she can see his eyes are entirely hollow.

  “Gr-Great M-Mother..” Rasi's voice was hoarse as she tried to speak through a sob while it wracked out of her, unaware of So'lek's extending hand until it settled on her shoulder. 

  Her eyes met his and found her sorrow engulfed by his own grief. She understood how much of this he blamed himself for - and Rasi's heart twisted more in her chest as she sucked in her bottom lip, another sob rattling out of her chest as she just flung her arms around the warrior. 

  The last thing he felt he deserved was to be comforted, but he couldn't help but crumble into her arms as his own wrapped around her- allowing his hand to slip from his. Together they wept into the other's shoulder, losing themselves in the grief that the last few weeks had brought them, reopening wounds both old and new. 

  What came out of Rasi's mouth next wrought more tears out of So'lek he didn't even know he had. 

  “I-It wasn't your fault- please believe that, So’lek.” She pulled back to look at him for a moment, watching the tears that streamed down his face as she wiped his face for him.. 

  So'lek's ears folded with shame as he averted his gaze from her, his eyes squeezing shut a few times in an attempt to clear the tears..

  “I-I-” He cursed himself for stammering, his fingers curled into his palms instead of digging into her back- but Rasi just gently shushed him as she rubbed his back, pulling him back in. 

  “It wasn't your fault..” She assured him again as the warrior just wept into her shoulder again- his tail tucked shamefully to his side as Rasi sniffled, the tears not letting up. 

  “Placing the blame on yourself won't help them or you, only being there for them can..”

  As she found calm, Rasi's arms wound tighter around So'lek, afforded and allowed this moment of vulnerability until he had nothing left to weep. 

  Only then did Rasi pull back again, watching So'lek drag his hands over his face- smudging his paint in with his tears and snot, and Rasi just reached for one of the clean rags kept in a basket nearby, offering it to So'lek as his eyes peered at her between his fingers. 

  His hands dropped from his face, with one of them reaching to gently accept Rasi's offering.

  Rasi adjusted herself to sit next to him as he sniffed, dragging the rag around his face to get off the tears, sweat, and grime as he groaned in quiet disgust - becoming more and more aware of the past several days that still clung to his body. 

  “...I need to bathe..” His voice was broken and gravelly as he examined the rag, his ear flicking at the soft chuff that left through Rasi's nose while her hand gently clapped over his shoulder.

  “Go.”

  “I–” He started to say, but Rasi cut him off with a wave of her hand. 

  “Go! I will keep watch with them, you will not take three days to bathe, will you?” There was that playful look again as her hand playfully nudged his shoulder, getting just the faintest chuff from So'lek too.. 

  “No.”

  “Then go, they'll still be asleep when you get back, and we will eat and talk more if you want the company.”

  So'lek thinks on it for just a second, but he nods to accept her offer as he gathers his legs underneath himself, his knees giving a little pop as he eased himself up. 

The thrum of the Samson’s blades sounded almost like the hum of Kinglor wings with how muffled everything sounded, even more distant than the  familiar voices speaking in hushed, worried tones around them. Someone’s warm hands were smoothing worryingly over their face. Long fingers, four of them… Ri’nela? That was her voice right? They found themselves pressing into her palms as they shivered with clattering teeth. Why am I so cold?

  “I’m getting down to four bags– Anqa, how much further to The Hollows?” 

  Tami’tey’s ears flicked at the voice, finding themselves surprised at how grave and solemn she sounded. Priya? You sound so worried. What’s wrong? 

  “Two minutes out, just hang in there a bit longer- I see Banshee riders ahead.” Another voice replied, that must’ve been Anqa- Anqa, why is that so familiar again? Right, right- Priya and Anqa… 

  No one noticed the delirious smile on their face, why did that make them happy again? 

  Another chill crept down their spine and seeped deeper into their core, shivering uselessly in an attempt to warm up. Their brow crinkled as one of Ri’nela’s hands left their cheek to adjust the blanket over their shoulders, and she caught another glimpse of that hunk of metal sticking out of them when she did so. She swallowed that lump of worry in her throat, her hand fluttering back to Tami’tey’s cheek, their face relaxed as they felt her warm palm cup their other cheek again, a shaky exhale of relief escaped them.

  Their ears popped with the Samson’s descent, wincing in discomfort  as the hum of the choppers stuttered, allowing Tami’tey to hear the muffled ikran screeches. One of them they could almost put a name to. It was on the tip of their tongue. Why couldn’t they remember?

  The air got choppier  as the Samson eased in for landing, mindful of the riders nearby. The blades of the Samson gave a high pitched whirr as Anqa cut off the engine, her hands quick to undo her seat buckles.

  Tami’tey had caught bits and pieces of the conversation they all had around them, feeling Ri’nela’s hand reach underneath their head to cradle it as she tenderly removed it from her lap- unable to completely spare Tami’tey of pain due to the burns, but the poor Na’vi could only muster out a groan of pain- their face contorting with a grimace.

  “--Going to help you, okay? —going to be fine.” They could tell it was Ri’nela was trying to be reassuring..

  Tami’tey wanted to comfort her in turn, but all could muster was an echo of “G-Going to be f-fine.” They sensed everyone in the Samson shift at the muffled sound of footsteps, and his scent caught their attention before even spoke- through all the blood, smoke, and ash that clung to him, they knew it was-

  “How are they?”

  ‘So’lek…’ They could have wept if they had the strength for it, their eyelids fluttered weakly in a great effort to open them just even a sliver. An observer wouldn’t have even noticed their eyes being cracked open.

  It was difficult to get their vision focused , eyes wandering  around the Samson, searching for him. They struggled to keep their eyelids from collapsing from the weight of their fatigue, but there he was– alive. 

  Not a trick of the mind, not a dream.

  They allowed their eyes to close, knowing Teylan must not be far behind.

  “They have been falling in and out of consciousness–  but we only have four bags left — not much, they're bleeding — have much time.” Ri’nela’s voice cut through their thoughts. 

  They must’ve been in dire shape after all. Funny, they used to wish for death near daily for most of their life. Now here they were wishing they had more time.

  “We’re wasting time then.” The bluntness in his voice barely hid his concern, they felt everyone around them shift– all their hands delicately wrapping under their limbs to readjust them,  his callused palms cradling themselves underneath their heels as he straightened their legs as carefully as he could in the stretcher. 

  They were in and out of their awareness of it all. It was like they were weightless, floating in the ocean as they swayed in something they distantly recognized as a stretcher. The straps kept them suspended as they moved with everyone’s efforts, human and na’vi alike. 

  “---to explain yourselves- come come, bring them along— . —people may come too.” That voice… Anufi, it had to be Anufi. They were in The Hollows weren’t they? Didn’t Anqa say that on the way in? 

  They found themselves unable to maintain consciousness. They drifted off as they heard words but couldn’t process anything,, one moment floating- the next on solid ground, gently shifted about by many hands. That many hands would usually alarm them.

  Were they not alarmed because they were safe? Or were they just too tired? Where were they again? They couldn’t remember, why couldn’t they remember? 

  Am I dying?

  Something that haunted Tami’tey was something they had learned about the Human and Na’vi brain during their time in TAP. There were many similarities just as there were differences- but a key similarity was that in the way the brain shut down while dying. They thought about it often- how while Aha’ri was technically dead, she could still hear everything going on around her for at least the next eight minutes.

  Did she wonder why she couldn’t move anymore? Why did her legs stop working? Why couldn't she reach out to comfort her little sister and the other Sarentu? Did it dawn on her that she was dying?

  I don’t want to die. 

  Not now, not yet. Death was inevitable for everyone, they knew this. But Tami’tey didn’t feel finished. They had only just gotten their life back after spending thirty years of it rotting in TAP.

  “I’m down to two bags–”

  “Do not worry about that– Keep doing what you are— is working—” 

  Working, what’s working? 

  “They are fighting hard to–.  —the blood, Priya.” 

  Right– They’re at the Hollows, they’re safe– Their friends are fighting for their life right now, they are not dying.

  “Tami’tey, we’re all here— So’lek is here, he went looking— all over— we were all–” Priya, that had to be Priya talking, right? Her poor voice. 

  As their awareness started to ebb with their unconsciousness, Tami’tey at least found themselves resting just a little easier.

…

It was not a feeling they were unfamiliar with, the sensation of awareness without consciousness- or even the reverse. Usually, it would cause alarm for Tami’tey to feel trapped in themselves like that, and yet this time they felt none of that. 

Tami’tey tried to will their limbs to move, not that they really wanted to with how much pain they were in. Their attempt was futile, finding that they couldn’t even open their eyes, but they could hear and smell their surroundings at least. It didn’t smell like blood, ash, or singed hair and flesh anymore. It actually smelled like…

  ‘The Clouded Forest…’ The scent of wet stone, damp moss, fog and rain… Accompanied with an aching feeling for a home that doesn’t exist.

  They tried to wrack their mind for any recollection of how they could have gotten here, but the fog kept them from thinking too hard about it, much to their frustrations.

  Their ears wanted to twitch at the sound of a soft footstep, barely audible enough for them to even hear it- but the scent that brushed across their nose made them want to burst into tears with relief.

  ‘So’lek!’

  When they found out he was alive from Bukowski, nothing could have prepared them for how that made them feel. For weeks they had been hollowed out. The one other person they trusted to keep them safe was dead. They had gotten him killed just like they had Aha’ri, their miscalculation had sent him tumbling to his death. 

  Or so they had thought.

  They didn’t dare weep, not then- not in front of those cameras. Even with Bukowski’s supposed assurances that he had never meant for Wukula to take things that far, they didn’t believe him. And they didn’t let themselves believe for a second that Wukula would even bother listening.

  “Ngaytxoa, ma yawne.” 

  ‘Yawne?’ 

It echoed in their head. They were quite sure they didn’t hear him right, feeling a light breeze brush across their cheek and shoulder as they sensed him sitting down next to them. 

  Tami’tey tried then again to will their eyes open, the more they did so the heavier they got. They were tiring themselves out just from the exertion of trying to open their eyes, forcing them to remember the state that they were in.

So'lek is a munch, I agree with everyone on that- he gives me the vibe he would be more than happy to use his mouth to please Tam (plus he likes seeing them come undone, my Tamì is a good leader and all but they put up a front to do it, it's a lot of work so he definitely gives them some much needed stress relief.)

So'lek discovers the joys of the prostate orgasm after Tamì suggests pegging, which he has to warm up to- not really seeing the appeal in it, but Tamì seems really eager to try it and well, he can't say he isn't a little curious about it and he likes to indulge Tamì'tey's ideas most of the time- they help him loosen up and have more fun.

They definitely fuck nasty after taking down an RDA base together for the first time as mates (and pretty often after that LOL).

Just imagine these two idiots sweaty, bruised, mostly covered in the blood of the enemy and panting as the adrenaline keeps pumping- eyes locked together before something snaps and they're all over eachother, at some point bent over an broken amp with So'lek growling in their ear.

I think Tamì'tey gets turned on by So'lek wrecking RDA shit, the first time post FTA they're raiding a base and there's something they have to use SID on- but So'lek overloads the fusebox with his new knife and Tamì'tey is just: o///o;

They'll pretend SID isn't working to watch him do it.

I do think Tamì'tey likes being spanked and being marked up with hickies and bite marks, and Tamì'tey of course has left their fair share of marks on So'lek.

Tamí’tey te Garcia Kataru’itu didn't wake up that day expecting to find themselves in the bowels of hell TAP again. 

  And if you had told them they did so out of curiosity, they would have told you that you had gone mad. 

  Yet here they were. In the bowels of the Sarentu clan's personal hell - referencing a blueprint of TAP they had never seen before, a blueprint Teylan had dug up during one of his many deep-dives into the data they had gathered from the RDA. Some information had to be decrypted, unredacted, filled in. 

  So

  It took time for some things to come to light. 

  When the archaic blueprints of TAP-Con 2 emerged with a section labeled Sublevel Basement, it caught Tamì'tey's suspicions immediately. Why would the RDA have gone through all this effort of hiding a whole basement from the maps? Tamì'tey had memorized all the escape routes from the fire drills Alma had with them and the other children though- instead of actually going outside, they would just stand by the exits..

  Tamì'tey grimaced at the memory as they made their way to an electrical panel. Much like the rest of them - it was as tall and wide as about the average human. They noted the fresh air coming out from underneath it, faint- but very much there. They could smell traces of pollen and moss.

  Just as they reached for the panel , they felt the familiar soft buzz of the comms being activated, their ears picking up as Teylan's voice came through. 

  ‘Hey! Just checking in. Um. You found anything yet?’

  “I found the electric panel they used to hide the entrance. I'm about to go check it out.”

  There was a pause from Teylan, the silence betraying his hesitation. 

  ‘...Tamì'tey? You know you don't have to do this, right?’

  Teylan's words stopped them for a moment, thinking for a moment. It was like Pandora's box, pun notwithstanding. 

  Once they opened this panel and looked down there to see what TAP was hiding, there would be no going back. 

  But they had to know what it was.  They had to uncover every terrible thing TAP had done- for the sake of their one true human friend there, of the other children that didn't make it out of there alive, for their clan that died at the massacre. 

  For Aha'ri.

  Tamì'tey exhales into the radio. 

  “I will not let TAP hide their atrocities, Teylan. Don't worry about me, alright? I don't think there's anything down there that could surprise me.”

  Not after what the RDA had done to all their people. Massacred in a sacred place their people had been visiting for generations upon generations, then were unceremoniously dissolved by acid.

  Then came the yavä that plagued the Clouded Forest in pockets around the sacred Moot site, it was more than just some terrible human-made substance that made na’vi sick and hallucinate- even kill them if the exposure went on too long… It was the result of Ewya’eveng’s attempt to purge the acid, and failing to do so- creating a thick, green fog that choked everything around it.

  Tami’tey knew something about the fog many Na’vi didn’t though, they didn’t even have a word for it in their language, but the fog was haunted.

  They had come to that terrible conclusion themselves when the “hallucinations” didn’t cease- but clarified themselves after Okul had inoculated them against the yava, guided by them to the ruins of TAP-CON 1 to uncover the terrible truths for themself.

  Teylan’s voice over the radio shook them out of their daze.

  ‘I-I know that… It's just- you don't have to do this to yourself, you know? You said it yourself, the past is dead. Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie? No… That's not quite the phrase I'm looking for…’

  Tamí’tey glanced back down the maintenance tunnel from whence they came, there was a small part of them that entertained the idea of leaving- to crawl back through the bowels of hell and out into the sanctuary of Eywa’eveng.

  But… What if something down there could protect her? 

  “I'm already in hell, Teylan. Might as well go down to Tartarus.”

  They opened the panel, unsurprised now to find a hallway leading to an elevator instead of neatly maintained wires.. It didn't help the growing pit in their stomach however, crouching down to squeeze themselves into the hallway. 

  They heard his voice bubble through the comms again.

  ‘Just- be careful! We're here for you.’

  Tamì'tey didn't expect their eyes to sting when he said that, their sniffle was louder than they would have liked.

  Thankfully Teylan didn't draw any direct attention to it. 

  “Thanks, Teylan. Talk to you soon.”

  ‘Talk to you soon...’ He echoed in reply as the buzz from the comms ceased, leaving them with just the hum of the electricity.

Tamì'tey could hear the quiet hum of electricity from the elevator even now, despite the vines that grew out from every crevice and crack the elevator had to offer, with the most hearty and thick of the vines pushing through the path of least resistance. The walls were covered in an amalgamate of algae, moss, and lichen. The vines offered enough of a gap to grip the doors, grunting with effort as they pushed.  The doors protested with a shrill, rusty creaaaaaaak- stuttering with resistance as they forced them apart. . 

  They dug their feet into the floor to shove the doors the rest of the way open with a shout, the metal giving away from their hands as it disappeared into the walls. 

  They were grateful to be met with an elevator shaft instead of the elevator itself- the last thing they wanted right now was to be in an even smaller metal box. They shivered  as they remembered the last time they were alone with Mercer in an elevator.  squeezing their eyes shut as their breath caught in Tamì'tey throat. 

  “No- NO! Get your fucking shit together Tamì'tey.” They cursed under their breath, nails digging into their palms till they stung- forcing a sharp exhale through their nose. 

  Their eyes cracked open, bracing a hand in the doorway as they peered down into the shaft to see just how far it went down. To their dismay, they couldn't see the bottom. Whether that be because of poor lighting and dense growth or because it was far, far down- who can say?

  Tamì'tey didn't hesitate any further. 

  They took a running leap into the elevator shaft, wrenching their knife from its sheath to slam it into the vines.

They catch themselves against the wall with a grunt as the force of the landing jars their joints- causing them to grit their teeth. 

  They huff in an attempt to shake it off, refocusing on the task at hand.

  They sheath the knife before climbing the rest of the way down, a dull metallic thud echoed throughout the shaft when Tamì'tey landed atop of the elevator, brushing aside foliage to look for the emergency exit. 

  The handle caught on their fingers as it dragged over the foliage, honed in on it now as their grip wrapped around- gritting their teeth as the rust made it difficult to budge. 

  Tamì'tey was more stubborn than the rusted handle however. aIt gave way with one final groan and  they stumbled  forward, catching themselves on the door as they nearly fell in.. 

  Fuck. 

They peered into the elevator.  The vines had forced open the doors down here too, even leaving almost enough of a gap to squeeze through. 

These elevator doors didn't need as much force as the last set, giving way underneath their hands to spill them out into an atrium. 

  It was empty, save for the growth and the set of secure doors - locked up tighter than what Tamì'tey was used to seeing with the RDA. 

  Within TAP.

  ‘Never a good sign when the doors are that secure.’ They weren't strong enough to wretch these dense doors open, so an alternative way was needed- nothing they couldn't figure out with SID and a little elbow grease. 

  They fiddled around with their weapons holster, pulling out a sticker-covered SID and using their thumb to flick it on- finding a panel to work their way back from, the SID indicated to them that they were on the right track, following the inactivated wire to a junction box to make some repairs on it. This rinsed and repeated the process a couple of times until their ears caught the little hum of electricity in the walls as the power was restored to the sub basement atrium 

  The wretched white lights casting their sickly glow over the fauna, chasing away the rich bioluminescence that had illuminated the room.

  With the returning power, however- another detail was revealed to Tamì'tey. Algae and moss had obscured the view of the sign before, but now its letters were illuminated..

  Their eyes slid over the word in shock. 

  “Morgue”

  Morgue?

Morgue. TAP has had a morgue, this whole time. 

  And it wasn't on the map… 

  (It.. It wasn’t more than a Morgue, wasn't it?)

  The thought filled them with a level of cold dread they had never felt before, trickling down their spine and creating a yawning pit in their stomach.

  It wasn't like the dread they felt on those long walks to Mercer's office.

  It was so much worse than that. 

  One of the very few times Tami’tey had ever been outside as a child was visiting their sister’s grave with Alma, and only they had been permitted to do so. The other Sarentu children weren’t “family”, only Tamtey was. None of them got to say good-bye to Aha’ri, not even Nor. That’s not something you get over easily. 

  Especially with the memory a Sarentu has.

  Their hands mindlessly searched for the button to open the door, feeling it sink underneath their fingers as the door let out a hiss. It startles Tamì'tey into responding with their own, backing away out of instinct, tail lashing.

  ‘It's just a door- it's just a door…’

  They assured themself of this as they observed the doors drag open, shredding up the vines in its wake. Their ears pinned back at the sound of metal scraping with a little grit of their teeth, resisting the urge to cover their ears.

There they peered into the Morgue, finding themself unable to step past the threshold as they got a chill up their spine- they swore they heard a whisper- tiny, like the voices they heard in the yava. 

  Surely that was just a trick their mind had played on them- right?

  Tami’tey shook their head with their eyes squeezing shut, forcing their trembling hands to steady themselves as one of them reached up to the comms on their neck, swallowing hard that lump in their throat before they pressed the button.

  “Teylan? I have reached the, uh- Sublevel Basement…” They tried to keep their voice from wavering as the comms softly buzzed in response, Teylan was usually quick to answer- something that was especially comforting in this moment. 

  “You make it sound like it’s not just a Sublevel Basement… What did you find?”

  Tami’tey sighs through their nose as they peered back into the room, toeing the threshold with hesitation.

  “You’re too quick for me sometimes…”

  “Tami…” He says this gently but firmly. He’s not a kid anymore, they don’t need to protect him from everything.

  “It’s– It’s a Morgue, Teylan…”

  …

  “Morgue?...” He echoes.

…

  …

  “...Teylan?”

  They hear him suck a shaky breath in on the other end, the speakers crackling and popping a bit- Tami’tey could just see Teylan bowing in on himself now with his hands in his hair. 

  “I-I’m here. It’s just… It really doesn’t stop with them, does it?”

  Tami’tey pressed in firmer on the comms to lock the button down and keep the channel open, freeing up their hand as they processed what he said.

  “No… No, I guess it doesn’t. Something is always going to find its way back to haunt us.”

  “I hate that.”

  “So much for the past being dead…” 

  “Look… You can just come home, yea? You know what it is now- we have evidence already, do we really need more?” 

  “Yes.”

  …

  “Do you want me to stay on the comms with you?”

  “You don’t have-”

  “I do not, but I want to. Do you want me to stay on the comms?”

  Tami’tey’s eyes stung, nodding even though Teylan couldn’t see them.

  “Y-Yea- Yea. That would help… Irayo.”

  “Then let's do this.”

  “Let’s… Do this.” Tami’tey echoed back.

  Usually they were the ones doing the hyping up and encouragement, and it got just the tiniest smile on their face. No one was around to witness it anyways, but it evaporated as they drew their bow and knocked an arrow. Tami’tey swallowed down their fear as they took a tentative step forward. Tami’tey hadn’t smelled or heard anything inside the Morgue that told them that there were threats inside, the bow in their hands was more a security blanket.

  Few lights still retained their function, some of them hanging from the ceiling by frayed- spitting wires. Tami’tey was mindful and dodged the sparks and the puddles of water where they landed.

  First observations of the room yielded a few alarming details to Tami’tey that already made their stomach churn. First, the metal wall lined with raised, squared doors- their handles being the kind that operated like a hatch, to seal whatever it was inside. “WARNING: MORTUARY COOLER TO BE KEPT AT TEMPS BETWEEN 34 F AND 40 F” was emblazoned on the wall next to the little doors. Little doors big and wide enough for a Na’vi to enter laying down. It only compounded the chills of dread racing down their spine.

  The chill made him shiver at the thought of their sister and the other children in one of those boxes, and a part of them wondered if Raph had been kept here too.

  “I see coolers for bodies…” Tami’tey said, half wishing they had their camera with them. Maybe it would have been a good idea to take pictures of this place, but then again- their photography was their hobby, TAP didn’t need to ruin that for them too. “Nine doors.”

  “Why so many…?”

  “I… I can’t even give you a guess for that pal.”

  Second, as they continued their scan of the room, their eyes caught on the words “CREMATORIUM”  on the adjacent wall. Their eyes dragged downwards, spotting the vine covered, singular slot for cremation. That was enough to make bile rise to the back of their throat, trying to remind himself that Aha’ri had been buried, not cremated. 

  This was little comfort to them with the doubts they were having in the back of their mind.

  “There’s… There is a crematorium.” 

  “Of course there is.” His tone was unsurprised, but it betrayed his quiet anger nonetheless. 

  “Of course there is…”  Tami’tey repeated numbly.

  They didn’t know if the other children were as “lucky” as Aha’ri had been..

  Third… They observed the command console, in a center that existed on a raised platform encircled in glass in the room.

  ‘Only one way to find out…’ They thought bitterly, keeping their arrow half-at-the-ready as they pressed onwards, forcing themselves to pick up their leaded feet as they felt the metal grate of the stairs dig into the soles of their feet. The stairs themselves betrayed the years Pandora had on them, overgrown and warped from the pushing vines and deep roots that had found their way down here. 

“I found the command center, it overlooks the whole room. It’s got two sets of stairs flanking it.”

  Teylan hummed in reply.

  The plant life had done enough damage to the integrity of the stairwell that Tami’tey had to jump over a small gap to get to the command center, praying they wouldn’t have to do a lot of fiddling around with SID to get what they needed from the servers.

  The door was stuck open most of the way, making repeated attempts to close- blocked by a root that had crept in its path long ago. The RDA must have left the place in a hurry if the door was left open. Likely around the time they were evacuating Hells Gate and they were all put into cryosleep.

  It was hard to ignore the bitter feeling in their chest when they thought of Alma as they made their way to the console - tentatively pressing the power button as if it would break or blow up on them. They sighed in relief when it  did neither of those things.

  There were several monitors that lined the edge of a massive screen. It was then Tami’tey noticed the eyes lining the room - some of them having the red lights on that indicated they were actively recording. 

  ‘Shit.’

  Tucking away their bow, Tami’tey hissed under their breath as they reached into their pouch to pull out the thumbdrive Teylan had given them earlier.  

  “Teylan, I am about to start the download.”

  …

  “Teylan?” They repeated, earning no reply, noticing then the soft hum of electricity gone from the comms, and it then dawned on them that the RDA failsafes must have kicked in, throwing up faraday protocols to keep signals in and out of the facility.

  “SHIT!”  Tami’tey snarled.

  The  RDA would likely be here soon, they had no idea how long they had till they showed up. It could be minutes or hours- but they usually weren’t so lucky on the latter.

  Their fingers flew over the keys, thumbing the trackpad while their fangs dug into their bottom lip. A bad habit from their TAP days that lingered on even still.

  The thumbdrive packed a hefty fifteen terabytes of room on it, enough room to hopefully download everything off of the servers- or at least enough of it to add to the pile of ever-growing damning evidence they had.

  Evidence that they hoped would come handy one day, one way or another.

  Tami’tey braced himself as he opened the File Manager, not even reading any of the names of the files as they fiddled around to select them all and set them to download to the thumb drive.

  → “Download in progress: 12,987 files found, 1 of 12,987 uploaded.”

→ “Estimated Download Time: 25 Minutes.

  Tami’tey’s ears laced, hissing out a “fuck” under their breath as their hands reached up to tug at their ears in frustration.

  ‘Ma’Ewya, please don’t let the RDA show up.’ It was a silent prayer mouthed without a word uttered, trying their best to reel back in their mind- thoughts swarming like Kinglor, each scenario worse than the last.

  They needed to keep their mind occupied…

  Occupied…

  Their verdant eyes flitted to the monitor in front of them, scanning the names of the files currently on the screen before them and that little progress bar slowly inching along.

  → “2% Downloaded”

  They glanced at the files again, reaching  for the trackpad before stopping just an inch from the key as their eyes darted to the screen again. They could  hear nothing but the pounding of their heart in their ears.

  They didn’t have to look at the files, they didn’t have to know what they said or contained. The horrors of TAP and the RDA were kept on three drives, duplicates of each other,  and kept among trusted members of the Resistance. Many of them only knew the surface level of it, and even those who did dig into the files could only dig so deep before they couldn’t stomach anymore of it.

  They’d only known one person who’d been brave enough to try.

  “Once Pandora opened the box, it let out all the horrors unto the world. Her regret was as immediate as her snapping the box shut, but it was too late…” Raphael had a bittersweet smile on his face, the children gathered in close to look at the book he had cradled in his lap. 

  He’d been the only human man that could touch their back and not make their skin crawl. That actually made them feel safe and like they were a child. Not some kind of… animal. 

  The screen blurred as their eyes stung with tears, but they quickly wiped their arm across his face, clearing their nose with a sniff as they tapped on the trackpad.

  “If Teylan can handle it, I can handle it.” He tried to reassure himself, scrolling down the list, scanning the names of the files to see if anything caught their eyes. Many of the files had the default names assigned to them by the system, a string of random numbers and letters followed by a .png, .jpg, .pdf, .zip and .mov.

  “Maybe if I sort it alphabetically?...” Tami’tey suggested to themself, the cursor dragged across the screen with a few swipes of their fingers, their heart still rattled around in their chest.

  They pushed past the hesitation out of habit.

  Alphabetic order would be the easiest place to start. 

  “AHA’RI- AUTOPSY REPORT.zip”

  …Autopsy report?

  They read it again. 

  And again. 

  And again. 

  Their ears start ringing as their vision blurred, bracing a hand on the console as he felt himself suddenly get lightheaded to catch himself from falling over.

  “F-fuck- get it together. Keep it together.” 

  They swallowed down the lump in their throat as they forced their trembling hand back to the trackpad, not even processing the other names on the screen as Tami’tey dragged the cursor to Aha’ri’s name.

  They double click.

  Tami’tey’s breath hitched sharply in their throat as the file extracts, staring at the names of the icons on the screen.  Dozens of loose image thumbnails with images of her vacant expression, framed similarly to her TAP profile picture - but instead of a shirt, she wore a white sheet, tucked neatly under her chin.

  As they clicked the first file, their heart dropped when a media player loaded up- the speakers crackling to life as audio rasped through the mesh, causing their stomach to churn while their eyes glued to the screen. They couldn’t look anywhere else. Black at first, but then the camera was uncovered, and a man they didn’t recognize filled the screen before he took a few steps back.

  They didn’t feel like they were in their own body anymore. It’s like they were looking over their own shoulder as the man just barely obscured a body behind him on the autopsy table- Aha’ri’s body.

  The unknown scientist cleared his throat as he brought a clipboard into view. Tami’tey could catch glimpses of the images and information on it as he flipped through the sheets,skimming the pages with an idle look on his face.Like he wasn’t about to cut open a murdered child.

  “TAP Subject 002, Name: Aha’ri, Age: 13 years old, Height: six feet, five inches, 3 centimeters tall.” The speakers kept crackling over the man’s words, but Tami’tey could unfortunately still make out what was being said. 

  He stepped further back from the camera as he adjusted his glasses and prepared to gown up, the camera continuing to record. And much to their horror, the other screens flickered on- providing other camera angles of the autopsy table; zoomed in on different limbs, on her face- one being a bird’s eye view of it all.

  Tami’tey felt like Mercer’s hand was around their throat. They couldn’t breathe, they couldn’t swallow, they could do nothing but watch. They were too far gone to feel sick at this point, not even noticing the progress bar on the download had been updated to 15 percent.  

  They watched helplessly as this scientist casually donned the rest of his PPE while he continued to idly narrate, not making even a single mention of who had killed her.

  “Subject was shot with a single bullet to the chest cavity, initial hypothesis for cause of death is the bullet severed either the aorta or pulmonary artery. Expired from blood loss after approximately a minute. Will need to perform an autopsy to confirm findings and collect samples for research.”

  One of the monitors displayed the tray of tools, pristine, sterile- shining under the bright white lights of the morgue as a gloved hand reached for the black sharpie, the other monitor showed his free hand shifting the sheet downwards to just below Aha’ri’s diaphragm. 

  Research?

  Their ears flicked at the sound of the marker being uncapped as their eyes remained glued to the screen, the felt tip dragging down Aha’ri’s chest. Tami’tey half found themself looking for her chest to stir even now. Even if they knew it never would.

  “After autopsy, the subject's remains will be catalogued, documented, and remaining biowaste will be cremated.”

  Biowaste?

  Cremated?!

  Tami’tey only finally blinked when the speakers betrayed a new voice- muffled behind doors, yelling- no, screaming at someone. There was the faint hiss of the hydraulic doors on the speakers as Alma stormed in- with Mercer following suit.

  “I TOLD YOU TO STAND DOWN CORTEZ!”

  “NO! JOHN- THIS IS OUR PROJECT!” She whirled around on him, half paused on the steps leading up to the center of the room where the autopsy was taking place. “YOU CAN’T JUST KILL ONE OF THE CHILDREN AND THEN DESECRATE HER CORPSE!”

  ‘Our project…’ echoed in their head as something in them snapped, the trembling in their hands stilling as a quiet rage started to build in their chest. Tami’tey gritted their teeth as the Examiner rolled his eyes at the two while they approached the autopsy table. He stole a glance at Mercer as he covered Aha’ri’s body back up with the sheet- draping it even over her face, covering her vacant stare at the camera looking down on her.

  “I would hardly call it desecration, Dr. Cortez.” The Examiner replied cooly, though he did betray a little offense in his tone as he folded his hands behind his back. “It is a necessary part of the job. You signed up  for this when you agreed to co-direct TAP.”

  Alma squeezed her eyes shut as she stiffened for a moment, feeling Mercer’s smirk as he crossed his arms. She  forced an exhale through her nose and met the Examiner’s gaze with a knit in her brows. “Dr. Tanner, with all due respect for your degrees and your job, surely even you can understand that this is desecration? If the Na’vi ever found out we–”

  Mercer rolled his eyes and gave a loud groan, throwing his hands in the air before pointing an accusing finger at Alma. 

  “Oh my Jesus CHRIST- It’s always about those fucking filth with you! Na’vi this, Na’vi that- It’s always: ‘Oh! We’ll offend them if we do that!’ or ‘That's a sacred tree! We can’t cut it down or else!’” Mercer ranted as his pale face shifted a couple hues pinker, riled up by his own words. “I’m done with it Cortez! TAP isn’t some fucking pet project, it is how humanity secures it’s future on Pandora. We need to recoup the loss somehow, it’s,” And he pauses, long enough to point to their dead sister on the table, long enough for Tami’tey’s blood to start to boil. “Death has put us 20 million dollars down the drain alone!” 

  “She wouldn’t even be dead if you hadn’t lost your fucking temper, John! Aha’ri is–” The feed caught the pixels that were the tears in her eyes. “Was a child. You’re a grown man! You should  know better!”

  Mercer’s expression twitched, his nose crinkling with his snarling expression.

  “How DARE you speak–”

  Dr. Tanner rolled his eyes as he raised a gloved hand up with his palm facing out, clearing his throat.

  “Now folks, we are all adults here…” Dr. Tanner tried smiling politely, but the corners of his eyes didn’t crinkle when he did so. The smile was as fake as he was. “And we all have jobs to do. I’m sure I don’t need to call Administrator Selfridge now, do I?” His cool eyes focused particularly on Mercer at that, who rolled his eyes. 

  “You do not need to drag my cousin into this.”

  “Then we are in agreement then, I will continue with my autopsy and do my job. And you two will continue your jobs as Co-Directors of TAP. And, most importantly,  The Chairman won’t need to hear of how Director Mercer wasted twenty million dollars by losing his temper. ” 

  Mercer’s eye twitched at that, and instead of getting Alma’s shoulders slumped as she looked over at Aha’ri, her hands balled up at her sides as she looked between Dr. Tanner and Mercer. 

  “What’s going to happen to her remains?”

  “You know this Dr. Cortez, what we do with all the remains. Cremation.” Dr. Tanner replied plainly, lifting his glove to check his watch. “This conversation is going to make me have a late dinner.”

  “No- she can’t be cremated, she should be buried like-”

  Mercer looked at her again, his gaze all too gleeful as he replied: “What? Like a Na’vi? Like we did to their clan?” He was delighted in the way she looked at him. “You need to get your head out of the clouds, Cortez. The blues are not our people, they’re a means to an end, and it’s time you get with the program or I will find someone else who will- do I make myself clear?” 

  Alma’s face faltered as her hands loosened, a tear running down her face as she glanced at Aha’ri again- her eyes squeezing shut for a moment as she mouthed a ‘yes’.

  “Oh, I’m sorry- I couldn’t hear you, what was that?”

  “Yes.” Alma choked out.

  Mercer smirked. Dr. Tanner betrayed no such expression on his face, but his eyes said it all.

  He took just as much delight in this as Mercer did.

  “Can- we at least bury something?...”

  “You can bury her biowaste.” Dr. Tanner replied.

  “But-”

  “You can bury her biowaste.” He repeated, looking at Mercer when he said that. Like there was no point in debating this compromise he offered up.

  Alma just nods bitterly, taking a step back as she takes a glance between Mercer and Dr. Tanner again, dipping her head before turning heel and making her way off the platform.

  The next words chilled Tami’tey more than anything else Mercer could have possibly said just then.

  “Hey, Doc. Save me the ashes won’t you?”

  Tami’tey’s knees buckled.

  Her ashes, their sister’s ashes, had been in that man’s possession - Tami’tey dared to hold onto the shred of hope that Dr. Tanner would deny his request, but their mouth unhinged in a silent wail as the doctor smiled and nodded. 

  “Of course. Now, move along. This kind of thing isn’t suited to your tastes anyways.”

  Their hand covered their mouth as Mercer laughed and clapped him over the shoulder. The bone saw whirrs to life before Mercer had even stepped foot out of the room while Dr. Tanner uncovered Aha’ri again with his free hand.

  Tami’tey hadn’t noticed the sound of the alarm blaring around them at this point, nor the flashing red lights swiping over the walls, casting deep shadows in the overgrown room as the RDA flooded the room from all possible exits- including the hanger door that led directly to outside.

  All they noticed was what was playing out before them on the screen, mind racing with a swarm of thoughts as they watched that bonesaw pierce their sister’s flesh, the sight blurring from their searing tears while their nose twitched into a snarl. 

  They didn’t hear the thundering footsteps of boots from leather and metal alike, they didn’t hear the voices shouting commands at each other, they didn’t hear the sounds of guns being loaded- all they could hear was the crunch of her sternum as the metal ripped through it, her blue eyes still staring at the camera above her- unblinking, unreacting to the saw tearing through her chest as the Examiner carefully dragged it over the guideline- a line of red on her blue skin.

  “A-Aha’ri–” They choked, hand dragging down their chin as they dragged themselves up to their feet, sobbing her name over and over until–

  “IT’S OVER HERE! CONSOLE ROOM!”

  Their eyes snapped to the window as the autopsy continued to play on the screen, Dr. Tanner’s voice droning on callously about his observations about their sister- who he kept on referring to as The Subject, like she didn’t even have a name.

  The red in their vision wasn’t from the flashing alarms, it was from the rage. Searing, burning  rage swelling like a storm, ripping through their very being. It was all they felt. In place of the grief, in place of the horror, was nothing left but the rage, the rage that they had forgiven Alma, that she had lied to them about Aha’ri’s grave, about the fate of their people, about–

  everything.

  The room had swarmed with RDA now. Some poured their way up the steps to the command center, amp suits closing the gap on the broken side of the stairs while the grunts took aim with their rifles at the windows.

  At them. 

  They had to move. 

  Tami’tey dropped just as the bullets started to fly. The bulletproof glass around the command center only bought them enough time to pull their shotgun from its holster, ears pinned flat as they loaded Dragonsbreath bullets into the chamber. Tami’tey wanted to feel something else, hear anything else other than the buzzing bonesaw and the tear of flesh. They wanted to feel blood, they wanted to feel the humans fear- the same hopeless fear the RDA had subjected to all the Sarentu children.

  They jumped up  just as an AMP forced its way through the door, taking clumsy potshots at them as Tami aimed their sights down into the cockpitt, spitting out a furious hiss as their bullets shattered the shutters  and glass as it ignited. The AMP suit dropped its gun as the owner of it screamed, the arms flailing helplessly like the human inside.

  ‘More.’ 

  A voice inside them urged as the AMP crumpled to the side - and Tami’tey heard the door behind them hiss with the hydraulics as it opened to allow in a pair of soldiers, opening fire as soon as they stepped into the room.

  Tami’tey rolled behind the nearest desk, drawing the fire away from the console as they pumped the shotgun - waiting until the humans were flanking before popping out and shooting.  One body crumpled to the floor with a slick thud as they whirled to the next, bullet tearing through the human’s neck.

  ‘MORE!’ 

  The smell of smoke and burning flesh started to fill their nostrils as they stepped over the bodies, ignorant of the shards cutting into their feet.  They kept low beneath the firing line of the windows as bullets started sprayed into the room. Tami’tey grabbed a flashbang grenade off of their chest, tearing the pin out with their teeth and hawking it around the corner. 

  “GRENADE!” 

  “GET DOWN!” 

  “FLASHBANG!”

  They waited for the pop before they went charging out, firing blindly into the smoke with a furious scream. Their fiery bullets find their marks even if the shot wasn’t fatal. The way the bullet exploded on contact and set its victims ablaze would, regardless, take their lives. 

  Harding taught them that.

  They charged down the stairs, swapping their shotgun for the heavy bow.  A Grenadier fired haphazardly after them as other soldiers moved up, their volleys of bullets following them while Tami’tey took aim for the grenade launcher and fired just before they ducked down behind a column. The explosion that followed killed more than just the pilot of the AMP — scattering chunks of gore like bursts of spores. One of them writhed in agony from the flames as a blood curdling scream ruptured out of them, but it garnered no sympathy from Tami’tey as their wrath only grew, replying in kind with their own seething scream as they charged out of their hiding place.

  They don’t know what compelled them to hold their bow the way they did, a human would have compared it to being held like a baseball bat- their own voice in their head crying out for 

MORE! 

MORE! 

MORE!!!

  hurling their bow as the humans reloaded a little too late. 

  They bore down on them just as it registered in their eyes that Death on Wings was about to beat them to death with their bow, swinging it in a tight arc with such force that the air whistled- followed by a loud sickening crack as the bow made contact with the skull, if the impact alone hadn’t killed the human- the internal decapitation did.

  The human next to them let out a yelp, dropping their gun as they held up their palms-

  Any other time, Tami’tey would have let them run.

  Their wrath got the better of the Sarentu however, hissing as they swung the bow into this one too- catching the underside of the human’s jaw, watching as the eyes bulged out of their head from the impact and the crunch of teeth breaking making hot blood spatter across their cheek. They were in no state of mind to second guess twice about how good that felt.

  KILL THEM ALL. 

  Something stung Tami’tey in the arm and side- quickly ducking down as they shoved themselves behind a downed AMP suit, hearing the bullets resound off the metal as their guns followed them. There was no pain. Not significant enough for them to take heed of anyways. It was like kicking a Stingbat nest. They charged as soon as they heard the majority of them run out of rounds, needing to reload.

  Tami’tey hurled their bow in such a way it caught not two, but three of the soldiers in the head, causing the bow itself to splinter and break. The humans ragdolled from the impact, heads colliding into one another with a sickening crunching sound. The bodies all collapsed to the ground in a bloody heap, at least one of them clung to life- but they were in no shape to do anymore damage, the remaining grunts were aiming their guns as Tami’tey whirled on them.

  One of the grunts let out a rather shrill as Death on Wings closed the gap- their hands engulfing their skull as they yanked the human upwards, causing the others to gawk in shock as they could only look on in horror as their comrade had their skull crushed with a sickening crunch.

  They closed their eyes in time to shield them from the torrent of blood that coated their face and neck, the warmth reminding them of the hot showers- sometimes too hot.

  “Filthy vermin.” Mercer’s voice echoed on the wet tile. “It’ll never be clean.”

Their eyes slid open, meeting the terrified gazes of the humans below them with a snap as they flinched, dropping their guns and trying to run.

  ‘Filth. I’ll show you filth.’

  It was a blur what happened next, one moment they were closing the gap between themselves and one of the humans that tried to flee- the next, something warm and metallic gushed in their mouth, flesh giving way under their teeth as they shredded into the flesh of their neck, struggling wrists pinned down flailed uselessly in their grip until they weakened and stilled.

  The taste of iron and the smell of gunpowder had them right back at TAP, with Harding barking orders in their ear and Mercer’s icy gaze marking up their body without even laying a finger on them.  

  They almost became completely blind to it all as their rampage dragged on, they lost count of the waves, but they always stopped sending people eventually, people cost money.

  A skull popped between their hands like a fruit as commands rang in their ears, overlapping with Harding’s.

  Their blunted fingers rendered into someone’s flesh, almost like clay- their teeth found purchase in throats, arms, bellies- whatever vulnerability they could find they would take.

  They were ignorant of the glass shards embedded in their knuckles as they ripped the bastards out of their AMPS, burying their knife in their bellies and ripping upwards to their throats, disemboweled like prey- but not given the dignity of a quick or clean death.

  It didn’t matter what the humans threw, nothing sticked- nothing shook them out of their ceaseless wrath as more humans foolishly poured into the fray, out of habit they tried for their shotgun-

The sensation was like their  head got cleaved into two when the AMP yanked them up by their kuru, a screech of pain tearing out of their throat as the pilot held them up high for the others to see. The cheers and jeers of the humans filling their ears like the tears of agony welling behind their shut eyes. They managed to force themselves through the blinding pain enough to reach for one of the grenades strapped to their chest- not knowing whether it was the explosive or flashbang, but it was a gamble they would have to take. 

  A metal hand clumsily tried to take it from them just as they were attempting to pull the pin, their finger curled tight around it as they allowed the metal hand to snatch away the grenade- metal fist clenched tight around it just as Tami’tey allowed the pin to drop from their hand with a ting. 

  Panic ensued among the soldiers as they realized they had only seconds- Tami’tey and grenade was dropped by the AMP in the chaos, the concrete jarring their knees- but survival instincts kicked in time for them to push themselves up in an attempt to book it as the grenade went off behind them.

  They were flung forward with some of the humans, not close enough to the blast themselves for it to be fatal- though they were left in a daze from the shock of having their kuru pulled, and the blast left their ears ringing.

  The ringing muffled the wails of agony around them from some of the soldiers unfortunate enough to survive the blast. Tami’tey pushed themselves up enough to crawl to safety as smoke started to fill the room, bringing with it the scent of gasoline that seared their nostrils and throat.

  They found somewhere to duck away while fumbling with their gear, hand feeling around for the exopack as their eyes stung with the smoke and  rage still boiling in their chest- hissing as they flustered themselves with the straps.

  Just as they were starting to put it on, a gunshot rang out before Tami’tey could even get the straps over their ears- a hiss spitting out as pain bloomed in their leg.

  Their furious gaze snaps to the direction where the shot came from.

  “Shit.” They heard a voice say, and it was then followed by “Shitshitshit” under his breath as the Na’vi rose to their full height with hardly a stumble- teeth gritting as they bare them in a snarl. Tami’tey started to stalk their way towards him through the smoke, not even giving a damn now about the exopack as they heard the sounds of a gun being frantically reloaded, bullets clinking on the concrete.

  The barrel of the shotgun emerged from the smoke pointed up at their face, the human letting out a terrified scream as Death on Wings loomed over him while his finger hovered over the trigger- his eyes as wide as moons as he met their enraged but tearful gaze.

  They didn’t know they were still crying, that the tears had cut tracks through their warpaint and the blood smeared on their face. The human stared back at Tami’tey’s wide, unblinking gaze as his finger hesitated over the trigger. 

  They didn’t know why the human hesitated, neither did they question it as their hand shot out to grab the barrel of the shotgun, the other grabbing the human by the throat as they ripped the gun out of his hand. 

  Desperate hands went flying up to theirs as it encircled his throat, already feeling the burn from their grip, unceremoniously tossing the shotgun aside as their eyes bore into the man’s terrified gaze. Their bloodstained teeth were bared at him as Tami’tey’s breathing seethed out of them, they saw the man’s mouth moving but heard no words.

  He was pleading for his life, they knew this much. Yet how many of their clan pleaded for theirs? The tears streamed uselessly down his face, his begging fell on deaf ears- and Tami’tey would have ended his life right then had that not taken that sharp inhale through their nose, smelling something else other than the gasoline and smoke.

  Someone else.

  Tami’tey’s grip on his throat loosened as they blinked, finally- they noticed the man had been speaking in mixed English, noticing he was mixing Spanish and (rather poor) Na’vi together in his pleas.

  “Please- Por favor, oh dios mio– I do not want to die here, please– I came here to find my father, I-I-” He sobbed. “Ngay–Ngaytxoa?? Sorry, I’m so-sorry! I never shoulda shot you in the leg! I– I was being stupid!” Tumbled out of his mouth as Tami’tey’s grip slackened, the confusion in the man’s eyes mirrored Tami'tey's own.

  Their eyes went down to the man’s dog tags- catching sight of his name, and it made their breath catch in their throat.

  “Gabriel R. Garcia” 

  “R-Raphael?” Escaped Tami’tey’s mouth, and the wide-eyed bewilderment of the human before them was all the confirmation they needed for it to click in their head: That they were holding Raph’s child up by the neck, and that they had very nearly killed him. 

  They didn’t mean to drop him, their hand had unclutched from the man’s throat out of shock as they stepped back from him- watching him just long enough to see him roll onto his side while he massaged his throat, coughing for air.

  “W-Wait-” They heard him say as their eyes welled with fresh tears, nearly slipping in a puddle of blood as they ran.

  Tami’tey got a good glimpse of their rampage, of ripped out throats and gouged out eyes, skins burned by incendiary rounds and clawed with their blunted nails. Skulls cracked open like eggs, the yolk of their minds obliterated in their footprints. A small part of them still felt some satisfaction at the scene before them, and they didn’t know whether to be scared or disgusted with themself for it.