Family

Neteyam

I'm so warm and comfortable, I don't want to move. Something had stirred me from my sleep, but if I try, I can doze back off. Joey is still sound asleep in my arms.

"Neteyam!" I hear my father's voice.

"Joey!" Norm's follows.

This second time that they call for us, Joey wakes with a start, sitting up. We're surrounded by the glowing pink vines from the tree of souls. Memories of the night before shoot through my mind.

I see you.

And I see you.

Joey and I had bonded last night. For life. We're a bit young for it, but it was to be expected, right?

I remember when we had bonded through Tsaheylu, I saw all her thoughts. The good ones and bad. I felt her fears. I felt the pain of losing her mother. Her love for her father. I finally saw her. All the way through.

"Coming!" She yells back at them, quickly getting up. She seems panicked.

As we're coming out from the tree, we run into Jake and Norm. They seem incredibly panicked.

"What were you thinking, disappearing like that?" I've never seen my father this upset. He was genuinely worried. It's not unlike Joey and I to disappear for the night, whether with friends or to explore. He's never had an issue before. I never could have expected this.

Norm is hugging Joey tightly. I remember what I saw in her memories, deep down. Norm wanted to name her Josephine. But her mother said it sounded too much like a name from the Sky People. They settled on Joey. It could sound Na'vi, but it's also short for Josephine. They had been so happy with their compromise. I wonder if Norm remembers that. 

"What are you doing here?" Norm asks her, his hands gripped tight on her shoulders. He's in his avatar form, so he towers over her small frame. I've never seen him this worried about her. He's usually very relaxed and trusting, and allows his daughter to do as she pleases. I think he knows that she's probably safer in the forest than he'll ever be.

"Um... well..." she looks at me for help.

"Well, we um..." I find myself almost embarrassed to say it out loud.

"Wait a minute," Jake stops and looks around, and looks at us. "You slept here?"

"Oh." I hear the breath leave Norm's body. He looks wobbly. 

"We're mated for life." Joey sounds more confident than me, but there is also a glimpse of embarrassment on her face.

It's part of life, yet it feels strange telling our fathers.

"You're seventeen." Norm's voice is shaky. "You mated for life at seventeen."

"Come on Norm, it was going to happen eventually. You can't be surprised." My father sounds relaxed but I don't think he is. 

"No Jake, this is my baby girl. My only daughter. And I lost her last night." He turns to me. "She's under your protection now."

"Dad." She scoffs, drawing his attention away from me. "I'm still your daughter."

"Yes, but in Na'vi culture, you and Neteyam are a mated pair, and therefore, you belong to each other. No one else."

"We can discuss this later." My father interrupts. "We need to go. Now. Family meeting."

We call our Ikran, who arrive within seconds. I feel panicky. Norm and my father seem incredibly distressed. Did Joey and I do something wrong?

Joey gives me a panicked look as we fly. She saw me too last night. My fear of disappointing my father. My fear of losing her. My hopes to become Olo'eyktan. I can tell she's wondering if we did something wrong as well. Are we about to be chewed out?

As soon as we land, Neytiri is there. She pulls me into her embrace, and grabs Joey too. She's shaking. I can see she has been crying.

"Mother, what's happening?"

"Look." She points to our overlook. I can see smoke in the distance, and a huge empty patch where the forest has been burned away.

"There was a fire?" Joey walks to the edge of the overlook, as if trying to see across the forest.

"No. The sky people have returned."