AN: Social distanced hugs to all my readers:))

Alva glanced up at the figure soaring, no, floating in the sky above her. She could just barely make out the faintest shade of dark blue as the sun hit in just the right places. Atop his loyal ikran sat a just as loyal Tsu'tey. One day she hoped him to be as loyal to her as he was his ikran, to earn that loyalty and trust.

The feeling of harsh bark and branches under her feet brought her back down to the ground even as her eyes longed to dance back to the dancing duo. For that must be what they were doing- a beautiful and deadly dance high up in the sky where they cannot be touched. A dance of control and utter trust, a trust humans cannot even begin to fathom, for such is the depth of it.

She reluctantly looked away once more and focused on getting to her destination. Her end of the deal had yet to be upheld and she wanted to impress him the way he had her. Kida was waiting for them somewhere in the forest, not that Alva knew where exactly her palulukan was hiding but it was somewhere in the forest. The first meeting between her teacher and Kida had been a disappointment, but that was to be expected. The palulukan was one of the Na'vi's biggest threats and the fear and respect for them had been ingrained in them since before they were born. Like lions or tigers, only bigger, more dangerous and overall more lethal, like everything on Pandora. Still she hoped that he would with time be able to overlook that some for her sake.

This was her favorite part of the forest yet. It was full of big, tall trees that all held an impressive number of branches perfect for running on, and the view was fantastic. She could see mountains, lakes and the different kelutrals in the area. Green, green and even more green. Fifty and more shades of lovely green. If it hadn't been her favorite color before it was now. Another thing she loved about this part of the forest was that the sheer amount of branches made it almost impossible to see the ground in some places and overlapped so much that it almost turned into big platforms that held the most wonderful of colorful flowers and plants. She could spend hours running around in just this one forest on Pandora and never grow tired and never stop finding new things to marvel over. A paradise, her paradise.

One pull, two pulls, three pulls and she was at the very top of the tree. With shaking hands she let go off the branch she was standing on and straightened to her full height. The tree swayed gently in the soft breeze and for a second she worried that she would fall. Alva let out a breath before letting her arms sway with the wind as if they were dancing together, and in a way they were. One wrong step and the dance turned deadly but it was a risk she was willing to take.

Her curls flowed down her back like a waterfall and her eyes were closed as she swayed. All thoughts of Tsu'tey, the RDA and Jake slowly faded and in its place a bubbling feeling of contentment arose. For a precious minute or so it was just Alva and Eywa, dancing on top of a tree, together once more.

"What are you doing?" A voice interrupted her calm.

Alva giggled softly and opened her eyes. "Dancing, of course. Do you want to join me? My partner is very popular today." A twinkle of mystery lit in her eyes at her joke.

"You could fall." Tsu'tey informed her, a bit of worry seeping into his words. "And die, no honor." He bluntly continued, stroking a hand down his ikran's neck when it screeched impatiently.

She cooed and placed her right hand on the animal's neck, next to Tsu'tey's, making him falter in his steady stroking. "I'm sorry Yllä. Tsu'tey is a big meanie, isn't he? Hmm? You want to keep flying, don't you? I know you do, pretty boy."

While Alva was having a very one-sided conversation with Tsu'tey's ikran he took the short amount of time he had to look her over. It wasn't often that he could watch her like this without her noticing. She had a way of knowing things that both pleased and unsettled him. The first thing his eyes flickered to was the many bruises that she had all over her body, most likely from all her climbing and playing with the clan children, none severe or worrying. Next his eyes traveled to the peculiar clothing she wore: while Na'vi in style and colors she had put her own human touch on it that was subtle and yet made all the difference. Her many accessories was the third thing to capture his attention and he spent no more than a second looking them over, if it was one thing that was a constant with Alva it was her love for accessories and therefore he had seen them enough times to have already familiarized himself with them. Her hair had always been fascinating to him, the way it was curly some days, straight others and sometimes a wild mess. Most of the time Alva carried some kind of flower or other object in her hair, today she had a large, blue flower that matched her chosen clothing. All in all, Alva never changed and that was something he appreciated. A constant in a life moving ever so faster with the growing conflict.

"Tsu'tey?" She called his name gently, brushing her fingers over his briefly before boldly grabbing his hand. "Staring is rude."

He bristled at her words and let his signature scowl fall in place. "I would never stare at a demon." Tsu'tey barked and squeezed her hand once before pulling away.

Alva shrugged and before she began climbing down the mighty tree she called out a cheeky "Whatever floats your boat, my strong warrior. Meet me at that place, I have a surprise."

---

And a surprise it was.

Kida, who had previously been lying peacefully beside Alva, growled lowly and got up on 6 feet. Slowly the palulukan crouched, still growling at the intruder, and was about to lunge at the Na'vi man before Alva raised a hand.

"I thought you knew not to sneak up on a thanator." She laughed and stood up, letting one of her hands stroke Kida's side before letting her hand fall once she walked in front of the crouching animal. "They are easily startled." Alva gestured to the still growling Kida before turning back to her teacher. "But don't worry." She grinned, showing some of her teeth. "I won't let her hurt you."

Tsu'tey had come to an abrupt stop when he saw the lounging palulukan, not even noticing Alva besides it as the beast had immediately raised to its full height and let out thundering growls as a warning. That deep rooted fear of the apex predator made him freeze before it urged him to flee. Without anything to defend himself with except for arrows he would be an easy snack for such an animal.

A hiss grew in the back of his throat and his whole body tensed as he stared the mighty predator down. He was born a warrior and he'd die a warrior. His hands clenched into fists, his eyes narrowed, his tail flared and he crouched. A snarl echoed around them when the palulukan dug in the ground with one of its front legs.

Alva pouted, like she hadn't even noticed the tense state he was in, when he didn't respond. "You've met her before, 'Sey" the avatar driver whined softly and took a few steps toward the man. "Shush, Kida." The woman told her loyal companion and with one last threatening growl the animal quieted down and laid back down.

She gestured to the now quiet palulukan before giving him a hopeful smile.

"No." He shook his head with wide eyes.

Alva grinned before lunging towards him, grabbing his hands and forcing him towards the animal. "Yes." She insisted with a dazzling grin. "You two are long overdue for a proper introduction, don't ya think? Can't have my two favorites hating each other."

"I am favorite?" He asked with a rare touch of softness to his voice.

She giggled and waved a hand in the hair as if what he said was ridiculous. "Of course you are, 'Sey. You're my strong warrior."

Tsu'tey opened and shut his mouth a couple of times before giving her a look. "I... do not hate you." He finally forced out with a wince.

"Thank you." Alva bowed her head. "I'm honored, teacher. Now." She clapped her hands excitedly and grabbed his free one again. "This is Kida- Kida this is Tsu'tey."

The two stared unimpressed at each other. Tsu'tey could still feel all of his instincts yelling at him to run but he trusted the human enough to humor her this once, well, that and he couldn't show her any weakness.

The closer he got to the huge beast the more he questioned the girl's sanity. The animal glared at him with dark eyes that promised him death should he step out of line. He glared back, he too promised death should the animal step out of line. He would not hesitate to protect him... or her, he realised with only a small amount of anger. When did the idea of protecting or caring for the human stop disgusting him? When did it stop being an impossible concept and when did it start being the obvious thing to do?

If it wasn't for the woman besides him he wouldn't have ever dreamt of ever getting this close to a palulukan willingly. Of course he respected the beasts but his fear outweighed any curiosity he ever held. It had been so long since he last saw one this closely and he had forgotten the sheer size of the beasts. Its jaws were opened, showing the rows of deathly sharp teeth that were just waiting to sink into his flesh. He didn't want to think of how much death and damage those teeth had brought, much less what they would do to him.

Her warm hand kept him grounded and ever so slowly she would force it closer to the beast she called friend. And the beast, Kida, let her. Tsu'tey could see that they held a bond similar to the one he and Yllä shared, only not as permanent.

"Shh." She soothed him, brushing a finger over the top of his hand. He hated how much it shook and he hated how much her touch affected him. When had her touch stopped being repulsive to him? "Don't you trust me?" He did, but wasn't ready to admit it to her.... or himself yet.

Tough leather-like skin touched his soft one and slowly he let out the breath that had gotten caught in his throat. All limbs were still attached and they were both still alive. Another exhale and he could feel his raging heartbeat slow down and the shakiness of his hand steady.

"See," Alva whispered and let go off his hand, opting to instead wrap her arms around him from behind, leaning her cheek against his back. "I told you I wouldn't let you get hurt. This leaf does not lie."

Reluctantly he had to admit that touching the mighty beast wasn't as bad as he thought it would be and with her presence the beast seemed tamer than that one nantang his friend had tamed when they were children.

"I still do not like it. It's a dangerous beast, tsaheylu or not." He muttered grumpily and tore his hand away from the palulukan as if it had burnt her. Kida growled softly at the insult but otherwise stayed silent. If it could speak he imagined it would tell him it felt the same. And that was okay for him.

Tsu'tey shook his head and took a few steps back, needing to distance himself from both of them.

"And that's okay." Alva echoed his thoughts and let him distance himself from her. Naive as she may be, she could still see when someone needed space. "Thank you for trying. It means a lot to me." She grinned at him and swung her arms timidly around her body. "Guess I owe you one now."

They spent the next minutes in silence, with Alva dancing by herself and Tsu'tey glaring at both her and her companion. Soft snarls and hisses still came from the agitated male ever so often but both the avatar and the palulukan ignored him and his frustrations.

Alva grunted softly when her restlessness grew too large to ignore and the urge to comfort her teacher overwhelmed her. She had not thought Kida's presence would affect him so, but had obviously miscalculated how he would react upon seeing the large beast. She winced when she realised her mistake and how lucky she was that the situation hadn't escalated.

"Hey, Tsu'tey." Alva called out to him as she stepped towards him.

He grunted.

"I'm sorry." Her head hung slightly before her face lit up again. "But now you've met Kida and we can go on rides together. Oh, you'll just love it!" She gushed and jumped towards him.

He took a step back with an uncomfortable grimace on his face. "Alva..." Tsu'tey warned her but as usual she ignored them and instead wrapped her arms around his middle, making him freeze and let out a choked sound.

Alva leant her cheek against his chest and hugged him closer. "Hug me back." She ordered him softly and gave him a soft glare that held the promise of endless pranks, before he slowly, and not as reluctantly as he thought wrapped his arms around her as well. Alva sighed softly and pressed herself even closer to him, enjoying the closeness while it lasted.