- William Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet" (Act II, Scene 2)
Jake and Neytiri sat facing each other, their knees just touching. They were both filled to the brim with the same feeling – but only Eywa knows this. For now.
Neytiri's fingers dipped into the white paint like the elegant legs of a dancer. The paint was smudged up her arms like so many delicate kisses.. Her blue-striped, elegant face remained calm - her heart, however, was roiling with emotion.
She raised her paint-dappled hand to Jake's face, and ran it gently over his lips and chin, leaving two clear white stripes over his smooth, lake blue skin, extending branches of the palest tree. Neytiri struggled with tears, just as she had all day – it was the most important night of Jake's life as a Na'vi so far – his acceptance as one of the Omaticaya people – but never before had she felt so upset. This would be one of her last times to be alone with the man she loved before, she felt with absolute conviction, he would pick another Omaticaya woman as his mate. And, yes, she had fallen in love with this man, this dreamwalker, the one she had first called a baby, a sxkawing. She was proud, proud beyond words, but this feeling was drowned by the anguish in her soul. She was loath to let him go, because even if he did share her feelings, she was already betrothed, as a princess of the Omaticaya people, and they could never be.
She sighed, looked into his piercing, golden eyes, so like her own, and said, "It is time."
The pounding of drums was echoed distantly by the anguished beats of her heart.
Jake felt the cool, damp earth under his feet, and he could hear the murmurs of the Na'vi that waited just beyond the curtain of vines that separated them. His blood pounded in anticipation: tonight he would become one of the Omaticaya – forever.
"You are now one of the People, Jakesully."
At these words, Neytiri placed her hands on Jake's chest; savoring the last time she would be able to touch him freely. As she felt the hands of her mother, and then the hands of countless other's settle on her shoulders, a smile split her face, and despite her other emotions, she was filled with an all-consuming pride that Jake had managed to make it this far. Tonight, she would take him to the utria mohkri and tell him is rights, now, as a full member of his People. She both anticipated and dreaded it.
Jake playfully grabbed Neytiri's tail as they ran through the forest, small explosions of phosphorescence leaping across the ground wherever their feet fell. It whipped across his closed fist like a caged animal, smoother than silk and warm as the sun. He didn't know where she was taking him, but he was simply glad to be in her presence.
Neytiri stroked the glowing fronds of the Tree of Voices with her hands, then reached behind her and connected her queue. She let a wordless prayer float up to Eywa, one full of both hope and despair. She felt, rather than heard, Jake approach wordlessly behind her.
"You are one of the Omaticaya now", she whispered. "You may make your bow from the wood of Hometree."
She turned, losing her will to face him in an instant. "And you may choose a woman." She forced the words out: "Ninaht is the best singer". Her heart tensed.
The delicate beast that was Jake's hope sunk back into its dark burrow in his chest. Neytiri was suggesting other women – perhaps all those playful 'sxkawing's had not meant what he'd thought, after all. His heart almost ceased beating with the dread of it.
"Nihnat is the best singer."
Jake inhaled, bracing himself. It was do or die now. "I don't want Nihnat".
"I don't want Nihnat."
Jake's words seemed to float into Neytiri's brain – perhaps, just maybe, there was a chance. Then she mentally shook herself – it was not her place to think thoughts such as this. Nevertheless, a seed from the Tree of Souls floated down upon her outstretched hands – a sign of hope – but she pressed on.
"Pehral is a good hunter" The seed refused to leave her palms.
"Yeah, she is a good hunter".
She whirled, her heart falling. His next words, however, changed everything.
"I have already chosen. But this woman must also choose me."
Her face split into a smile – for Jake had left no doubt about whom he was speaking. And the words that came out next were mere breaths of wind – leaves floating on a breeze, but they were filled with life.
"She already has."
Jake reached his hand out, just grazing her neck as he slid it into her soft hair. He leant in and, ever so gently, placed his lips on hers. She responded with a fervor he had come to know was characteristic of Neytiri in all aspects of her life.
His thumb rubbed a warm stripe at the nape of her neck, his breath caressing her mouth. They sank to the ground, neither quite believing this was happening. Jake's hands leapt all over Neytiri's lithe body, caressing her back, her hair, her muscular legs.
Jake pulled Neytiri to him, pulled like he never had pulled before, and held her close to his chest. Her nose traced his forehead, breath in his ear. He had never felt this alive. He felt Neytiri grab his queue, and, even though he knew the disastrous consequences that this action might have, he closed his hand around the smooth, shining braid that enclosed hers. They made the connection, and for the first time in his entire life, Jake felt absolutely complete.
He lay down on the soft, gently lit moss and pulled Neytiri down beside him. She lay, with her back to his front, gently beautiful there in his arms. He could feel her back press against his chest as she breathed, but more importantly, he could feel her, all of her, through tsheylu.
He stroked the curve of her collarbone with his thumb, admiring the smooth pattern of phosphorescence on her skin, and he felt her thoughts through tsheylu – "I see you, ma Jake."
He breathed into her dark hair that lay splayed across his shoulders.
"I see you, too."