The petite woman sat on the cold floor with her pale pink dress flowing out besides her, enveloping her in a sea of pink. Her wet curls hung limp against her covered shoulders. Alva had decided to let them air dry this time, not having the patience or time to dry them any other way and deal with the eventual frizziness from it.

She had spent so much time in her avatar body that she had neglected her human one, it was almost as if it had shifted: her Na'vi body was her right body and the human one was the dream. This was one of the few moments she could get alone on the base. Much of the time she was either around her fellow drivers or she was doing something that required her being around others.

That night she had been able to sleep inside of the hometree in one of the hammocks next to her 'aunt'. It was one thing to be able to sleep on Pandora, outside of her cage, and another to actually be able to sleep among the Na'vi as one of them. Alva suspected that her aunt knew that she was a dream walker but had chosen not to expose her to anyone else, a fact that she was beyond thankful for. For once in her life she was feeling like she was fitting in.

Normally her bracelets and rings would make that familiar and comforting sound when she moved her hands but today they didn't. She had chosen to go without them, for the first time in years. Alva had a feeling in her gut, in her bones, that something was special about that day, like something was going to happen. Last time she had gone without her jewelry had been the day when her grandma got pushed off a cliff, she had the same feeling back then as she did now. It was like this anxiety or discomfort that swirled in her belly and threatened to destroy her good mood, but she forced a smile on her face the entire day and kept on being herself even if she wasn't feeling it.

Her eyes snapped to her right at the slamming of a heavy metal door. The door in question was thick, had multiple bumps in it, and scratch marks of different kinds. It belonged to an office no one ventured into, it was notorious for the horrible things that were discussed in there and that only bad things come out of meetings there. Her brother had warned her away from that room on several occasions, warning her that even though he sometimes went there she couldn't. The windows had the blinders pulled down, making it impossible to see what's going on inside. The walls outside of it were filled to the brim with posters of different kinds, most of them about the Na'vi. Probably put there by the other avatar drivers and scientists that were sick and tired of what the RDA was trying to do against the natives.

Out of the room she saw Jake, the sight shocked her and made her heart skip a beat. Alva actually gasped out loud and muffled the sound by biting down on one of her fingers, right where one of her rings would have sat. She couldn't believe that Jake, the first human to get back into the Omaticaya since the school shut down could be doing this. Alva never would have guessed that the good man she knew, the one with the big heart and big ambitions could conspire with the very person that wanted to take it all away.

Jake wheeled himself around the corner without ever looking back, like he didn't even care about who saw him. A brief flame of anger flared up inside of her, she warned him that she wasn't going to let anyone take away the things that she had worked so hard for. That included Jake, didn't matter if he was her friend or not.

---

For once her smile was gone and her face dropped down into a frown, one of anger and betrayal. Her feet slapped harshly against the floor as she stomped her way to where Grace had her private lab. Her temper was hanging by a thin thread, betrayal for her was a no-no.

"Grace" She stretched out the name in a sing-song voice that went several pitches higher than her usual voice and it had the same forced tone to it as the smile on her face had. Alva swaggered into the lab, her feet slightly dragging against the floor and her hands danced on the wall besides her. "I've got something to talk to you about. Something important that you're going to want to hear"

"Alva?" Grace asked surprised by the other woman's appearance. The scientist slowly placed her hands on her knees, supporting her weight on them as she leant forward. "What is it?"

Alva scoffed and inspected her nails with a glare on her face. She hated being in this mood, much preferring being happy and in her head, but she couldn't let this slide. "Oh nothing except that Jake was talking to Quaritch in his office. I've seen them talking before, my brother too, but I've not caught them having conversations in Quaritch's office before."

Grace's eyes widened but she quickly schooled her features. "You mean to tell me that Jake's been talking to Quaritch this whole time? You're absolutely sure?" The scientist stood up and ran a hand through her red hair, a sigh falling through her tight-lipped mouth. "Alva are you telling me he's been relying information to that gun loving moron?"

"Yes" Alva bluntly stated and nodded her head. "That's exactly what I'm saying"

"Shit" Grace cursed and fumbled for one of her cigarettes. She grabbed one out of her shirt pocket and quickly lit it using one of her custom made lighters from earth that she had brought with her. She inhaled the smoke sharply and exhaled slowly, letting the nicotine soothe her nerves. "I knew having one more trigger happy idiot was going to screw me"

Alva snorted and walked closer to Grace, almost leaning over her as she spoke her next sentence. "If you move us away from here he can't keep doing this". The younger woman leaned back up again and walked pointedly out of the room, leaving Grace stunned and deep in her thoughts.

---

As soon as she got back into her real body all that hate, pain and negative emotions just melted away and she could feel her normal self slowly flow back together. Now her smile wasn't forced, but genuine and happy. In the human world she would have to deal with Jake's betrayal but so far that betrayal hadn't extended to their Na'vi reality and therefore wasn't a problem there yet.

She stretched, much like that of a cat that just woke up, and then climbed out of the hammock she had been allowed to borrow until she would receive her new one, her own hammock that she would be able to place in whatever available spot she wanted and decorate however she wanted. Alva shifted her breast covering, popping some pieces in and shifting the branches a bit before walking down the spiralling stairs that grew naturally inside of the great hometree of the Omaticaya clan.

"" She greeted her aunt when she passed her down on the base floor of the hometree. The hollow part that also was used for the morning meal was bustling with life, all of the villagers were already up and about long before she had even thought about linking back in. Her eyes were droopy and her steps sluggish against the soft ground of the entrance of the hometree.

Tru'iel nodded and passed her a leaf containing some foods that Alva didn't recognize. There were some slices of fruit and some weird looking seeds that she saw many Na'vi around her eating. Alva nodded in thanks to her aunt and sat down on the floor next to the same group of water collectors that had shielded her the day before. They all nodded at her, some not even bothering to look up at her before continuing their morning meal.

"" Alva asked her aunt, holding up one of the seeds she had in her big leaf. It was big, juicy and green. When she squeezed it juice trickled out of it and ran down her toned thigh.

Tru'iel cackled at Alva's lack of knowledge regarding their food, and the wide, curios eyes she had going on that made her seem like an overexcited puppy. "" The Na'vi woman stole one of the seeds from Alva's leaf and popped it into her mouth, sighing at the sweet taste bombarding her taste buds. ""

Alva blinked slowly, still trying to process that her aunt had stolen a bit of her food. She nodded slowly and mechanically brought her hand down to grab one of the juicy seeds still in her leaf. The avatar squinted her eyes at the seed before slowly bringing it to her mouth, slightly grimacing at the sticky outside of it. Bursts of flavor bloomed inside of her, making her moan in pleasure and then eagerly swallowing the seed. She turned her head to her aunt with big eyes filled with wonder and excitement. She hadn't felt flavor like that since before she went to Pandora, all the food on Hell's Gate was blank, unlike the food her family used to cook her at home. "" Alva commented and threw another seed into her mouth.

"" Her aunt gently redirected her focus to the other colorful fruits she had provided her niece with. There were some big ones, small ones, round ones, square ones and fruits of every color. Tru'iel grabbed a slice of a fruit with purple skin that had small stubbles and orange flesh in it.

"" Alva asked cautiously but grabbed the fruit from her aunt's hand. She twisted and turned it, watching the different spots inside of it that she suspected were seeds of different kinds and, and gently feeling the spiky stubbles it had on the skin. Alva took a tentative bite and it didn't have the same explosive flavor that the episoth seed had but the consistency was smooth and it flowed down her throat like nothing she had ever felt before. It had a salty twang to it and the stubble on it tickled her throat.

Her aunt nodded and grinned at all the reactions the avatar driver had to tasting their food for the first time. She had took a big risk when she decided to cover for the young human and she was hoping she wouldn't regret it. Tru'iel had always been spiritual and she could feel how genuine and happy Alva was, she just hoped that Alva would stay that way and be a contributing part of the society she was trying to join. ""

Alva sighed in frustration when she couldn't understand what Tru'iel was saying but nodded nonetheless, no need to trouble her aunt for such small things. "" She fumbled over the word 'very' but she was confident that she got her point across.

"" The Na'vi woman besides her told her, blocking Alva's access to her food with one of her hands. ""

"" Alva echoed.

"" Tru'iel elaborated while nodding encouragely at the woman she had taken under her wing. Tsu'tey was someone she had grown up with and she, along with the rest of the clan, was confident in his abilities as a teacher.

Alva nodded her answer. She had no doubts that Tsu'tey was a great leader, but she also had no doubts of how badly he would react when he realises she's a dreamwalker and not Tru'iel's niece. ""

"" Tru'iel added the last part with a suggestive wink and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

After saying goodbye to all of the Na'vi she was sitting with Alva ventured outside in search for Tsu'tey, who she hoped would train her and make her ready for the Na'vi life. Alva was hoping to hide her human part for a bit longer, knowing that Tsu'tey would not react kindly to her not being Na'vi and parading around amongst them as if she was.

Said Na'vi was standing outside of the hometree, just like her aunt had said. Alone, just like her aunt had said and he was looking less than happy with whatever he was thinking of. Alva was beginning to think that that was his resting face or that he was constantly upset about something. It didn't make him any less handsome, in her opinion, but it made her want to put a smile on that face instead of his usual frown or scowl.

"" She said when she got close enough to him and made the traditional gestures that went with the phrase. Alva beamed up at him, more so than normal.

"" He responded, with his eyes lighting up just the tiniest amount and a small twitch of his lips.

Alva nodded up at him before letting her gaze fall to the ground, small bubbles of self-doubt formed inside of her. "

Tsu'tey shifted against the wall but by the small grunt she knew he had heard her and was waiting for the question. "" She forced out the words and then immediately took a few timid steps back and wrapping her arms around her midsection.

"" He burst out, making Alva snap her eyes back up at him. His eyes were harsh, cold and full of hatred as he stared down at him. Alva saw his chest heaving and his clenched hands shaking with rage at his sides. Alva noticed that he was staring down on her hands that she had forgotten to hide from him and instead had been showing out in the open. ""

With that he rambled, no shouted, at her, making spittle fly from his open mouth and landing right in her face. His ears were pointing forward and then flickering back. Tsu'tey leaned forward slightly, stretching out his hands towards her before he turned on his heel, spat at her feet and then strode away from her.