Grace had panicked when Alva woke up in her human body with a loud gasp that broke the fragile silence in the room. The hard part had not been to convince Grace that she was okay, even after the furious rant coupled with the lecture that Grace without a doubt had been saving for this very occasion, no. The difficult part had been to convince Grace to let her go back in.

At first the scientist had been hesitant but eventually came to the same conclusion that it would be best for Alva to go back in her Avatar body. If not to protect her body then to make sure her relations with the clan wasn't torn beyond repair.

"Take care of yourself this time." Grace urged her before the lid of the linking unit closed.

Alva made no promises because there was no way of knowing what Pandora has in store for you. Already she had gotten into a fight with the future Olo'eyktan, and it was not even noon yet. Only Eywa knew what else was in store for the bruised dreamwalker.

Once her mind was cleared and darkness that turned into blinding lights claimed her, Alva finally felt herself wake up again. This time in a bruised, beat up, blue Na'vi body instead of her old human one.

Alva blinked slowly as her eyes fluttered open against the harsh and unforgiving Pandorian sun. The first thing that greeted her was the concerned faces of her teacher, friends and other clan members. She smiled.

"Kaltxì, did you miss me?" She giggled and pushed herself up to a sitting position before waving to the others as if she was merely waking up from a nap and not after one of their honored warriors knocked her out.

"You're crazy, Alva!" Jake breathed out and shoved her shoulder. He looked relieved and angry at the same time. "Scared the hell out of me."

She hummed and brushed the dirt off her body. "That is a good thing, no? Now you don't have hell in you." Alva smiled goofily, already the scare from the fight fading away from her mind. Eywa had been with her every move of it and Alva felt content with that, knowing that whatever happened to her was meant to. If her journey was meant to end in that fight she would open her thin arms to Eywa without hesitation and welcome death with a bright smile on her face.

Slowly the crowd thinned until only Tsu'tey and Alva remained, as it should be. Alva and her warrior, the warrior and his leaf. He hadn't spoken to her yet, it had been so long since she had heard his rough voice, but she had yet to break the fragile silence either. Somehow it felt like it was not her place to speak first, like he had something gnawing inside of him.

Finally, after minutes of silence that threatened to suffocate Alva, he spoke.

"Training. Now." Tsu'tey told her shortly and pushed himself to his feet from the crouched position he had held besides her still aching and bruised body.

She went to protest, feeling much too tired and hurt to put up with one of his trying training, or rather lessons in survival, but stood up once he gave her one of his stereotypical scowls. "Fine." She muttered, her usually good and dreamy nature being overcome with the bitterness of pain.

Alva's body protested as she took her first steps after her agitated teacher. They were walking towards the spiralling wooden stairs, the ones she remembered tailing her aunt up the first time she was shown the hammocks, the stairs she used so often when playing with the children-- the stairs she limped up after she had been mutilated by Quaritch.

It was strange how much memory one place could possess. As she walked up the stairs she could hear the giggles of the children, her own muffled grunts of pain, Tsu'tey's frustrated voice after they had a particularly challenging day together and the way Jake laughed with Neytiri. She could see the outlines of various Na'vi, she could see so much, always.

Drops of scarlet red followed her determined steps, tainting the warm wooden tones of their home. Alva faintly smiled and kept walking, not minding the mess she made.

"Where are we going?" She finally asked him after they had walked up several levels of the big kelutral.

He took a sharp turn towards stairs that seemed more like platforms that one needed to leap from one to the other. Like a lemur, almost.

"Top." Tsu'tey sharply responded and made the first leap to the second platform. He was graceful in every movement and seemed to glide from one platform to the other with each powerful jump.

Her breath got caught in her throat before she hesitantly stepped up to the first platform. It was much lower than the rest but no less daunting. It taunted her, reminded her of the way she would jump up on it without hesitation had she not been wounded. It was taunting her of her own weakness and stupidity.

Alva ignored its harsh words and jumped up on it, stumbling once but then straightened up. With time she was sure she would be leaping as smoothly and effortlessly as her teacher did.

"Hurry up!" Came his impatient voice when he found that his student hadn't even started the journey and he was almost half-way to the top.

She grimaced and ignored the harsh pain in her ribs as she slowly jumped from platform to platform. Slowly but surely she made her way up to him. Her legs threatened to give out under her a few times but never did.

It took a few minutes, maybe ten, before she once again stood one measly step under him. Tsu'tey looked down on her with a smug smirk, as if he was higher than her. In the kelutral he was in his element, in the hunt he was in his element, but in the forest when she was in the trees he was the prey and she was the one with the upper hand. Funny how that happens, how he so easily showed his emotions of superiority, knowing that she often had the upper hand over him.

"Shall we?" She asked, breathless and with sweat rushing down her pale forehead. "Or would you rather wait until Eywa comes to collect us?"

He glared at her before huffing. Tsu'tey spat something at her in na'vi that she hadn't learnt yet and she pouted, which only made him bark something else at her. An order? An insult? You never knew with Tsu'tey, but she was confident that he at least wasn't complimenting her.

Alva coughed out a laugh before muffling it with her hand, ignoring the dried spots of blood on it. As soon as he turned around and continued climbing the platforms she couldn't keep it in and burst out in deep laughter that just wouldn't stop coming no matter how much she tried to force it down.

Slowly she made her way up the spiralling, steep platforms and finally she felt the sun on her skin again.

The view was incredible, she marveled and spun around in small, fast circles. The way the branches curled around the body of the tree and yet stretched out and provided neat hide outs for the ikran and plenty of space to run around on. The way the sun filtered through the leaves and fell upon her in thin slivers, the way the find felt more powerful up there, the way she could see how huge the forest really was and it still not being all of it. All of it was beautiful. She could see small blue dots on the ground and dots riding ikrans in the sky, happily calling out to each other as they flew. Alva could see some animals roaming the ground, she could see Eywa. Birds fluttered around in the sky in groups and the callings of the animals below her provided a sort of unusual sense of calm and peace to her.

And then she saw him, seemingly so comfortable in his skin up there in a way she had never seen before. The way he moved on the branches, jumping from one to the other, climbing and running. The sun didn't shine down on him in thin slices, no, it all shone down on him. It was as if the sun followed him, making him shine in the surrounding greens and browns.

He looked back at her once, for once he wasn't sporting a grimace of annoyance or scowl or even a glare. Now he looked back at her, face relaxed and eyes something akin to sparkling.

Alva blinked once and it all changed, like her blinking had turned a page in some book. No longer did Tsu'tey glow, no longer was he smiling with sparkling eyes and no longer did he look happy with her presence. Did he ever? Was it just an illusion or was it a brief slip in his carefully structured mask of indifference and cold dislike? Alva didn't know, but she wished it to come back, so that she could bask in Tsu'tey's warm glow once more.

"Why do you stare?" He barked at her and tilted his head to the side. The gentle screeches of nearby ikran was the only thing that filled the tense, almost suffocating air around them.

Alva felt a slight blush try to force its way up her neck. "It's a nice view." She commented off-handedly and gestured around her, plastering a beaming smile to cover the nervosity underneath it. "I've never been here before. It's beautiful."

He nodded and turned back around before leaping over to one of the more remote branches. On the end of the strong branch a big collection of leaves and things, crawling branches hid the animals hiding within it.

The dreamwalker sighed before skipping over to where her teacher had disappeared to, not minding him not responding to her, as he was prone to do. Once or twice her eyes wandered down to the ground and even though she felt the tingling sensation in her body from the height she was nowhere near scared of it, if anything it excited her. The familiar feeling of adrenalin was a welcome change for it had been too long since she had the opportunity to walk high up in the trees of Pandora.

"I want to take you to meet Kida later." Alva told him just as she jumped over a small gap between branches. "Properly introduce you and all that."

"The paulukan?" Tsu'tey asked her, throwing a curt glance at her from over his shoulder. "It is dangerous, leaf."

"Don't worry, my strong warrior, Kida isn't dangerous. She's my friend."

"Kida." He tested the foreign name. "Kida. The palulukan is dangerous." He finally told her with a tone of finality, one that she would not accept from him or anyone.

Alva crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. "No, she's not!" She muttered at him and took two, slow, short steps towards him. "She's kind, nice and a good friend. What would you know about palulukans anyways? Have you ever bonded with one?"

"No."

"Then how would you know that they're all just mindless, dangerous beasts?"

Tsu'tey turned around with a glare in his squinted eyes. "I never say palulukan is mindless. All animals here matter, but palulukan is dangerous, just like Na'vi, just like nantang. Dangerous and smart- not mindless, never mindless."

She shifted her weight and looked up at her teacher, seeing the intense look in his eyes, such a change from the glare they held before.

"I guess I'm still used to the human view of the animals." Alva shyly responded and grinned when she saw the smug look that grew on his face. A trick she had learnt during her times with the lethal warrior was that the fastest way to break him out of one of his bad moods is to "reassure" or tell him of the moral superiority that the Na'vi held against the humans. Alva didn't mind it, so long as she could see him happy.

"Yes." He responded with a nod and a slight grin pulling at his lips. "Now. Come."

Alva nodded and eagerly made her way over to where her teacher stood. He was perched upon one of the smaller branches and looked upon one of the bigger bushes of leaves . She could vaguely see them rustle and hints of blue and purple hiding amongst the dark green.

Her steps were no louder than a soft shuffle as she treaded closer to the branch. She could feel that something was hiding from her, more so than she could see it she could feel it. Its presence was vibrant and alive, like the harsh wind or a soft breeze. It moved around restlessly in the bush and as Tsu'tey did not seem to be bothered at all about it Alva assumed it was not something dangerous to her, or him.

"Is it your ikran?" Alva softly asked after coming to a stop besides him. She glanced at him but kept her eyes locked on the animal hiding. "He's restless, aching to fly and feel the sun on his wings."

The Omatikayan kelutral was the home to many of the hunters ikrans and they had their nests in the crown of it, hiding in the bushes of leaves and basking in the sunlight on the various branches. Alva could hear them all around her now, feel their presence even as they hid.

"." The warrior responded with an odd look. "How did you know?" Of course she could have figured it out from the basic knowledge that the ikrans were kept at the top of the tree, but he suspected it was more than that. She was a strange human.

She giggled and took a step forward, almost like dancing but not quite. "I can feel him, can you not? His presence is so vibrant I can almost feel it. You two have a very strong bond, unbreakable." Alva winked at him and took one more step forward, tempting the ikran to come out of its nest and attack her. She was nothing if not reckless.

Tsu'tey clenched his jaw and took a step forward, the warning dying in his mouth as she gently hushed him.

"Don't worry, my strong warrior, Eywa will guide me." She swung around and looked straight into the bush. "Like I told you, he's restless. If I had known that you were going to introduce me I would have dressed in finer clothes. Respect and all of that." She waved it off and took a few steps back. "Even when she's not here I can hear her harsh words. 'Don't do that, Alva, foolish girl. The ikran are dangerous. Don't approach it!'" Her voice held a twinge of sadness to it but also bitterness.

"But now that I'm away from her I see everything so much clearer. The animals she would warn me off from, telling me that they're monsters, turns out to be less of a monster than my kind." A glossiness appeared in her eyes and Tsu'tey's hand flinched. "Ikrans aren't any more dangerous than any other animal, and they all deserve the respect. People are so very cruel."

Alva chuckled and walked back over to where Tsu'tey stood, placing a soft hand on his chest. She leaned up to whisper in his ear, enjoying the way he relaxed when she first walked over and how he tensed up again. "Now you introduce me to your ikran properly. I want to meet him."

The dreamwalker got back down on her feet and giggled, twisting her bracelets around her arm as she watched him bristle. Tsu'tey didn't respond to her this time either but that was okay, he was not a Na'vi of words.

Alva followed him closely as he made his way closer to where his ikran was waiting for them. It knew she was there and it knew she held no fear for it.

He spoke softly to the winged beast lurking. Words of encouragement, of fondness and of respect flowed from his lips in na'vi in a way she had never heard him speak before. It was gentle, slow and tender. As soon as he stopped talking she longed to hear him speak like that again, only to her this time.

Her eyes were teared away from Tsu'tey when the bush rattled and shook. Slowly splotches of clear blue with purple and green spots climbed out of the mass of green. It's yellow and intense eyes was what caught her attention first, though she directed her eyes away from them so as to not challenge the animal. Then her eyes followed the lithe and slim build it had, watching the muscles move under its leathery skin. It had no feathers like the birds back on Earth do, nor did it have a beak. It had four wings that all ended in talons that the ikrans used to grasp things and to walk. The ikrans had a steering vane under their lower jaw that she had seen many ikran makto grab affectionately.

Tsu'tey placed his hand on the animal and stroked its neck slowly. "His name is Yllä."

"Yllä." She echoed with a big smile on her face, lurching forward towards the pair, being mindful to keep an eye on Yllä as to not overstep a boundary. "Beautiful." She marveled once she got closer. The clear sky blue with black stripes and the yellow splotches on its neck and head made it a particularly stunning ikran. The slight hues of purple on the edges of the fore-wings glittered in the sunlight.

Tsu'tey looked at her briefly and nodded proudly before focusing on his ikran again. "You can touch. Here." He gently grabbed her hand and placed it on Yllä's neck.

Alva gasped and quickly placed her other hand next to the other. She could feel the rhythmic breathing from it and the warmth radiating off it. She could feel it better now, the way it moved, the way it shuffled anxiously, the way it reached for the sun and the win.

"Tsu'tey." She called him.

Her warrior once again looked over at her. "What?" He asked her impatiently.

Alva shuffled in tune with the ikran. "He wants to fly."

"I know." He told her and reached back to grab his tswin. Tsu'tey threw an annoyed look at her before he made tsaheylu with Yllä. "He will fly."

She beamed up at him and nodded frantically. "That's good. He'll be happy about that." She could barely stay still as she bounced energetically on her feet. "He'll really like that." Alva looked at Yllä as if confirming her words and then giggled. "Now go!"

Tsu'tey shot her another annoyed look before he jumped up on Yllä, shifting only once before he instinctually found the correct position. He nodded at her once before he let out a shrill yip and Yllä responded by lifting them off the ground in a few powerful swipes of his wings.

Alva stood still even as the wind assaulted her. She waved at them when they moved away from her, singing a song that her aunt had taught her to sing. It was one that they used to sing whenever someone went away on a trip and you weren't sure when you would see them again.

If she thought Tsu'tey looked at home walking around on the branches it was nothing compared to how he looked when he was flying his ikran, or the way he looked when he was chasing her or the way he looked during hunts. On his ikran his face was relaxed but still focused. It was without a scowl and there was no glare in his eye or anything like that. Tsu'tey looked at peace in the air and Alva swore that she would make him feel at peace on the ground too. Alva would make Tsu'tey happy, even if it was the last thing she did.