After fixing up the smudged lines on her body it was time for the last part of the ceremony. It was where she was officially welcomed by the Olo'eyktan and tsahìk as part of the Omatikaya and formerly had a place among them. The most important members would place their hands on her body first and then the people behind would place their hands on the person in front of them and so on and so forth until every clan member was part of the huge circle. Alva had seen it happen once but since she wasn't part of the clan she had been hesitant to join in.

Her hair had been fixed and her lips repainted after the many kisses she stole from Tsu'tey. Finally she got to wear all of her jewelry again and the familiar weight of the bracelets, rings, anklets and earrings calmed her down. Without them she felt naked and exposed. For the occasion she had made herself a necklace- it was made out of a dark string that she had found laying around in the kelutral and hanging from it was a bright red stone that Grace had given her on her first day on Pandora. The necklace, or more like choker, hung around her neck and the stone rested comfortably between her collarbones.

Alva walked into the main hall of the kelutral, her eyes dancing over the Toruk skull totem that stared directly at her. Large, pointy teeth pointing out of a gigantic skull that used to put fright in all who roamed Pandora, except for the legendary Toruk makto, now it was used as decoration, in ceremonies and an artifact that helped them never forget the might of Toruk makto, or the great times of sorrows in which the Toruk makto appears. Holes where piercing yellow eyes used to sit now stared hollowly at her.

She catched Jake's eyes as her eyes danced over the many members of the big tribe that was waiting for her. When Alva saw the proud look on his face a shiver ran through her body and her breath got caught in her throat. When was the last time someone who wasn't a Na'vi was proud of her?

Alva walked up the last set of steps and slowly walked over to where the Olo'eyktan stood in his normal clothing. His face was blank but there was a hint of pride in his stance and acceptance in his face.

"Alva," his voice rumbled around the large hollow.

She took another shy step forward, her chin and eyes tilted to the floor, nervosity gripping her tight. Eytukan stepped forward and placed his warm, rough hands on her fragile shoulders before bringing her eyes up to meet his.

"" The leader of the tribe nodded his head and stared hard into her eyes, trying to show her that his words were genuine and that she was truly one of the people.

A tear slipped down her painted cheek and her lips wobbled as she suppressed cries of happiness. Her hands shook and her knees felt weak, like they were threatening to give in at any moment. She had finally done it! Finally she was a member, one of the people, one of them and not one of the humans. No longer would she be the shy, weird dreamwalker from Hell's Gate, no, now she would be Alva, hunter and ikran makto of the Omaticaya.

"" she whispered and nodded slowly. Tears rushed down her cheeks like rivers. "" her words were thick with emotion.

The olo'eyktan nodded once more and put a bit more force into his hold. The tsahìk, Neytiri and Tsu'tey's cousin were the first to join Eytukan, but she felt their hands even more and through them she could feel their acceptance of her, the sense of belonging that was foreign to her and the feeling of finally being where she was supposed to be. It felt like home. Tsu'tey was next and his hands were soft on her shoulders, warmer than the others and sent soft tingles and sparks down her shoulder. Alva gave him a bright, teary smile and he gave her a small grin that no one else could see.

The others of the tribe kept building on, each person placing their hands on the person in front of them and so on and so forth until they had created a big net with the tribe's members and the new one. Hands were placed on hands, hands were on her shoulders, her sides, her back, her tswin. Like a web she was being initiated into the family and one day she would be in a net just like this one, welcoming another into their big family, congratulating them on making it.

Alva closed her eyes and exhaled. This was home.

---

Alva brushed off the skirt she had changed into as she stood up from the ground. The top section of her hair had been braided into one single, thick braid that hung over the rest of the hair on her back. People around her were singing, laughing and dancing the night away to the song or tune that the Na'vi version of a band was playing. The celebration of her initiation to the clan was still going on, even after several hours, and even Alva had grown tired after the first hour or so of frantic jumping.

"Jake!" Alva greeted the man walking up to her.

Jake had his hair in the usual style and he wore a bittersweet smile on his face. "Alva."

The now member of the Omaticaya lurched forward and threw her arms around her friend. "Did you see? I did it! I'm a part of the clan now!"

"I saw," he responded with a grimace, "I wanted to, uh, congratulate you."

Alva squinted her eyes at the man with a smirk slowly growing on her lips, "are you jealous, Jake? You shouldn't worry so much, Eywa has a plan. She always does. I'm sure your time will come soon enough. When you're ready, of course."

Jake rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "I'm not jealous of you."

"Is that all you got from what I said?"

He shook his head, "I'm not jealous of you. It's just.... I'm running out of time and-"

"Running out of time to do what? You've got at least five years before your contract ends," Alva tilted her head as she looked at her friend strangely. "I've a feeling there's something you're not telling me. Something bad, something evil."

He shook his head but she saw through him. "It's nothing. Guess you joining the gang is suddenly placing a whole lot of pressure on me." Jake tried to force a smile on his face but it came out shaky and tense.

"Uhuh." Alva cocked her hip. "Me proving all of you wrong is putting pressure on you. Can't have the boss' strange sister beat you to it, eh? Ain't my fault you didn't, and still don't believe your teacher. I mean you've been on Pandora a while now, surely you must have noticed something."

Jake let out an awkward laugh, "it's not that. Believe me, it's not. I got three months to...do this whole thing and I'm running out of time and with you beating me to it- It just doesn't look good, okay."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Three months? Jake your contract spans five years." Alva's voice grew cold as she started realising that Jake was lying to her again. She knew about his deal with Quaritch already, had paid the price for it too. "What're you trying to say? That I should have waited for you? Now, I don't get why Grace and all of you keep trying to keep me back but I'm not some weak girl with her mind all messed up like you seem to think! I never was and I never will be. I'm strong, I'm seeing! This is me! This has always been me! So stop trying to talk me down on my big day just because you're too much of a coward to realise the truth." She spat at him, thoroughly pissed off at this point, before shoving past him.

Trying to cool down before rejoining her party proved to be more difficult than she first thought when Jake chased after her, tail moving sloppily behind him and steps loud.

"Alva wait! You don't understand." He pleaded with her.

"Understand what? That you've been conspiring against us this whole time?!" Alva spat out with eyes flashing with anger. "That the only reason we had to move from base was so that you would stop snitching to him?!" She pushed his chest. "That you kept supporting the man trying to destroy all of this even when they welcomed you!" another push. "That you still don't understand shit?!" a slap to his shoulder and a hot tear running down her cheek. "No. I don't get it, Jake, I honestly don't. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to get my freedom back, the freedom you people stole from me! This was, is my home and you're trying to destroy it!"

Jake staggered back with wide eyes. "H-how did you find out about that?"

"You weren't exactly keeping it a secret." Alva sneered, giving into the white, flashing anger that she had long buried. "I've been playing nice, I ignored the betrayal because I thought you'd learn to see. This is my safe place, the only place I've called home ever since I left Africa. Will you take this from me too?! Huh?! Here I don't have to be the weird girl who's so fragile she can't do shit on her own. Here I'm an ikran makto who has passed all the trials and who is weird in a good way!" Tears were running freely down her pale cheeks now. The anger, pain and hurt that she had forced down for so long was forcing its way through the cracks that had formed. "So help me Eywa if you take this from me you won't live to see another day."

"You have to understand-"

"I don't have to understand anything that you're saying," she hissed, showing her sharp canines. Alva's hands gestured in the air. "I'm done taking orders from all of you. I.Am.Free. A gilded cage is still a cage and I'm sorry that you would rather be in a cage than know true freedom, Jake, I really am. But just like none of you would help me, listen to me, understand me, I will do the same to you. I'm done, Jake. You couldn't even give me this day. You people just keep on taking. When is it enough? Huh?!"

The male dreamwalker took a step back when she took one forward with his hands held up in the air. When he realised she was waiting for his reply he hesitantly opened his mouth, "I'm sorry, Alva."

Alva's chest heaved and her shoulders ached with the weight of all the new emotions that were bombarding her. "I don't want your sorry. It won't solve anything."

"But I am! I-I. Yes, I've been working with Quaritch but I haven't reported to him in weeks. Weeks! I've fallen in love with Pandora! I have, but the plan is still on and I can't stop it." His head hung in shame. "I really am sorry, Alva, and I know it won't make anything better but I've changed. The human me feels more like a distant memory or a dream than the real me."

"And this is your grand apology? A 'I'm sorry, I've changed'?" She couldn't stop now even if she wanted to. Alva's mind and feelings forced her to stay grounded, there would be no safe escape from this. "What did the Na'vi ever do to you? What did they ever do to you to make you want to do this?"

Jake shook his head and started pacing back and forth in the small corridor they had found themselves in. "It's not like that. It was all a job for me and Quaritch promised to give my legs back."

The woman hissed loudly and crouched, tail tensing. "You did all of this for your legs? You'd kill an entire tribe of people so you could maybe eventually have your legs back?"

"At first but it all changed! I swear! I fell in love with Pandora, with the nature, the animals, the people, Eywa!"

"She sings no praises of your love." Alva muttered bitterly, body still tense. "So what if you've changed. What's the point? You've already given them too much. You've doomed the Omaticaya and your sudden bout of regret will change nothing. Besides, this body gave you your legs back, and more."

Jake took a begging step forward, eyes pleading with her to listen. "Alva, I promise you. I need your help stopping him."

"How much do you love her?" Alva suddenly asked, ears laid straight against her skull, teeth still bared in an obvious threat. "Neytiri," she clarified when he gave her a confused gaze. "How much do you love her?"

"A lot." He admitted and sighed out in relief when Alva straightened up. Never again would he piss her off again.

Alva looked at him, really looked at him and nodded her head. "Fine. I won't tell anybody."

A part of Jake felt bad for taking advantage of Alva's trusting nature like this, but the only way to stop Quaritch's attack would be to get the Na'vi to move away and he knew Alva would never agree.