If he said he was in complete control of the situation, he would be lying. He walked by a group of about a dozen Na'vi gathered together resting at the base of the trees, some of whom turned to look expectantly as he passed. He averted his gaze, not wanting to address them. His position as Toruk Makto meant they all looked to him for leadership, leadership he felt ill equipped to give. He could speak their language, unless they were from another clan besides Omaticaya. He glanced at them again briefly, seeing their markings resembled that of the Ikran People. He didn't even remember what their proper name was. He still was dependent on Tsu'tey and Neytiri to translate for him when speaking to them, their dialect being so different.

He approached the cliff edge, which overlooked the valley in which the tree of souls stood, the evening allowing him to see more and more the brilliant luminescence of the vegetation. He edged closer and looked over the side, where the Ikran were resting, hanging dangerously off the side. The Toruk rested apart from the rest, alone near the bottom of the cliff. The creature was apart from the rest, in times of rest flying off to hunt on it's own, returning when it's meal had been caught and consumed. Out of respect for his wishes, the Toruk would not attack the Ikran within the camp. The creature had bonded with him, but he sensed that unlike with Ikran, the Toruk would not be bonded for life. He controlled the creature for now, but only because it allowed him to. It seemed to sense that he was needed, and because of that, the creature agreed to help.

He sat down cross legged at the cliff edge, watching as the last edge of the sunlight disappeared behind the gas giant, the rays of the sun reflecting through the outermost edge of the planet, glowing a brilliant blue. He stared at this for awhile, his mind wandering from one thing to another. The thought of the battle to come weighed heavily on him. In less than twenty four hours, Quartitch would send in every single Scorpion and Samson attack aircraft along with the bomber and the shuttle with the express purpose of destroying this place. That wasn't even taking into account the ground forces. He had tried to explain as best as he could what the warriors on the ground would be facing, but he could tell they had a hard time understanding the concept of guns, and a big metal machine containing a small person. He had been met with disbelieving stares as he tried explaining the idea of a giant flying machine with people inside.

God, what the hell was he going to do?

At least he explained the aerial battle plan well enough. The ikran makto would attack from above, three hundred riders at a time to dive on the ships. He'd managed to communicate that they needed to get clear of the battle as soon as they were below the ships, because that's where the riders would be the most vulnerable. If they could, they were to climb up high again, and attack again. He also explained that the shuttle was going to be his own priority, and to stay clear unless he fell in battle. Trudy volunteered to try and take down the dragon.

He had two thousand warriors and half that many Ikran makto willing to engage in the attack, but the odds still worried him. These people knew very little about what they were facing, but they would still be in a bad spot when the attack was ready to start. One thing he needed was some way of explaining to them how they could disable one of the aircraft, but how could he explain this to them in words that would make sense? He heard someone walking up behind him. They stepped close to him, and knelt beside him.

"Oel ngati kameie" Neytiri said. He looked at her, trying to hide his worry behind a slight smirk, although his deception didn't seem to sway her as her visage still reflected his own worry.

"I see you," he replied, taking her hand in his own.

"What worries you?"

"What worries me?" he said with a shallow laugh. "Tomorrow all hell is going to break loose." he gestured behind him into the camp. "These people are going into battle tomorrow against an enemy they know nothing about. You saw what kind of power the enemy has at their disposal."

He stood, walking to the base of a modest size tree and leaned against it. "I'm afraid that these people are going to follow me to their death, not knowing what they need to win, to survive."

Neytiri stood and approached him. "Tell us then, what should we know?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, things like..." He didn't even know what to say. "Words that wouldn't mean anything to you."

A group of Na'vi, from his own clan were gathering at a distance to watch. Neytiri glared at them. "Kivä neto." They turned away and busied themselves with something else.

"You are Toruk Makto! You must not show fear." Her demeanor surprised him, and suddenly he felt like he was still being schooled by her to learn the customs of the Na'vi people. It was a verbal slapping, but the only thing that hurt was his ego.

She recoiled slightly, taking a step back as if she feared he would lash out. Her outburst seemed oddly to relieve the tension of the moment, and he smiled widely, to which she followed with a grin. "If I could only show you what I..." He had an idea.

The shack had been placed a short distance from the base of this cliff, and momentarily he thought that he would climb down to get to it, to which he quickly remembered that he was still connected to the avatar. If he needed to access something inside, he would need to disengage the link momentarily.

"Okay," he said, becoming excited. "This will only take a minute. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Not far." He said this with a wry smile. Neytiri would recognize what he was doing.

He sat down at the base of the tree and closed his eyes, concentrating on disengaging the link. A brief pause transpired before he opened his eyes again within the pod. He pushed the lid open and sat up, becoming dizzy as he did so. He looked to the left and right through the shack, seeing nobody else. Norm was still in the pod, connected to his avatar. He was with Trudy, probably serving as an armed escort. The process to take himself out of the pod and into his wheelchair took a moment longer than he wanted. Over the past months, it was taking more and more effort to move himself.

He wheeled through toward the end of the shack. The wheels got hung up on a table, one of the pods, and his fingers grazed by the narrow doorway. He stopped at the table where the radio was waiting, tuned to an encrypted frequency so their conversations couldn't be intercepted.

"Trudy," he said into the radio. He waited a moment, but there wasn't a reply. "Trudy, this is Jake."

"What's happening Jake?" Trudy replied.

"Where are you?"

"I'm about ten minutes away on my way back. I managed to get into the other shack to collect a few toys. I also filled up the Samson from the fuel barrels, most of the way. Colonel dickweed shot a hole in the fuel tank, so it only fills up about three quarters now."

"Can you land on top of the cliff in the camp?"

"Why?" Came Norm's voice over the radio. "Jake, it's probably not a good idea to antagonize them like that."

"I want to show them the kind of machines they'll be up against. I want to show them how to disable one of them."

"Sure I can land up on the cliff," Trudy said. "But Jake, i'd be a shame if they just went and shot me now."

"I'll tell them not to."

"They'll listen to you?" Norm asked.

"I'm pretty sure they'll listen."

"All right," Trudy said. "Inbound eight minutes."

"Swing around and come in from the east, the west face is where all the banshees are. Out," he said before hanging up the transceiver.

He tried turning around, getting his feet caught on every single damn thing in there before he finally got situated. He started the ungraceful shuffle from one end of the shack to the other. He passed a bulkhead when something caught his eye outside. Movement, something big. He stared out the window but realized it was pointless because the glare of the lights from inside blocked all view outside. He turned his head slowly to the bulkhead where the light controls were mounted on the wall. He casually reached over and flicked down the lights.

His eyes didn't adjust immediately, and for a moment, he struggled to see anything outside. He moved a bit, scanning the area outside the window. It was strange to see the forest from different sets of eyes. With his own eyes, he couldn't see the forest come alive like he could with the avatar. Everything looked dull and black with these eyes.

He strained, looking at the area where he'd seen the movement, and finally through his peripheral vision, he saw a glimpse of facial markings; a Na'vi. He suspected it was one of the other clan members who was wandering around. He tried to think of some way to diffuse the situation without getting killed. Obviously this one hadn't gotten the message to stay east of the tree of souls. That rule had been set for his own protection.

He cast his focus all around, but not directly on the spot. He looked for the pattern of small white spots. He found it, recognizing now who was outside. He knew now that he wasn't in danger.

He wasn't sure what to feel. Embarrassment, annoyance? He could try and ignore it, but he'd be sure to get questions. He put it at the back of his mind and climbed into the pod. The lid closed, and a moment later, he awoke again, right where he'd left his other self.

He stood up, looking around for someone who could speak english. As expected, Neytiri was not in sight, however a few of her immediate family were nearby, including Tsu'tey who was discussing something with one of the other clan leaders.

"Tsu'tey!" he called. The clan leader turned around, giving him an annoyed glare.

"What do you want?" He said, his words spoken with borderline rudeness. That was to be expected from Tsu'tey. He knew what disagreements they had between each other had mostly been put aside, given the current conditions. Still, the man's demeanor was fiery by his nature.

He stood and approached to speak. "My friend will be coming here shortly with a gunship. She agreed to come to so I could teach the people how to fight them. If you could warn them that she will be approaching, I would be thankful."

"You would bring this Tawtute here?" his face was nearing disbelief.

"She turned away from the sky people. She doesn't agree with what they're doing." He took a step closer. "Please tell the people not to attack when she lands here, we need her help."

His plea seemed to settle for a moment. Abruptly, Tsu'tey rattled off instructions to the warriors around him quickly to the point where he couldn't understand a single word. His men turned quickly away, presumably to spread the word through the camp.

"Thank you," he said, trying to appear respectful. Tsu'tey glared, but then nodded slightly before walking off.

He looked around the camp and saw Neytiri standing at a distance. She averted her gaze momentarily before going to sit beside her mother, who was by the campfire meditating. Neytiri spoke, although she was too far away for him to hear what was said. He could only imagine what they were discussing. Somehow, Mo'at seemed more knowledgeable than any other Na'vi about the link between a driver and it's avatar. Then he remembered, Grace had been among them for decades before he even arrived. Now he could only guess how much she had told them.

It wasn't long until he heard the sound of the ship's rotors. As expected, the ship's appearance made the people uncomfortable and sent them into the trees. Many of them stood off to the side among the trees, gripping their bows, arrows at the ready. None of them had yet drawn, which is what he hoped for. He ran to the clearing he had in mind and stood in the middle of it. He waved his arms around, gesturing a safe place to land. He saw Trudy lean out the side and look down before she started descending to land.

The attack aircraft landed, the rotors kicking up a slight dust cloud which spread throughout the camp. He searched around, seeing the Na'vi looking out from the trees fearfully. They were waiting to see how he would react. The engine died down, and the rotors started winding down.

"It's okay," he called out. "You can approach."

Norm squeezed outside and stepped onto the ground. "So far so good?" he asked. He was about to stand up straight, but jerked his head downward as he remembered the rotors still turning immediately above his head.

"They haven't shot us yet."

Trudy was still in the pilot's seat, flipping a few switches before she removed her headset and dawned a rebreather. The she opened the cockpit partition and stepped out into the cargo area.

"All right Jake, what are we here for?" Trudy asked.

"Show and tell."

"Yeah?" she laughed, "Show them what color our guts are?"

"Norm, say something to them."

"Like what?"

"We can start with, 'Hello, and gather around.'"

Norm set off speaking his fluent Na'vi, calling them to gather around. Timidly and slowly, a group of them neared, gathering around the ship.

"All right Norm, you're gonna have to translate. We're probably going to have to do this a few times to make sure everyone gets a chance to see."

He stood tall and addressed the crowd. "This is a gunship. You do not have to fear this beast." Norm mirrored his sentence in Na'vi.

"This beast can be brought down with a bow." He walked to the front of the ship to the cockpit window. "An arrow can penetrate this glass, either injuring the pilot or obscuring his view." Norm translated after him.

He motioned with his hand, not having an arrow with him to demonstrate with. "Aim straight for the glass." He motioned with his hand straight down perpendicular to the glass. "Don't hit from the side." He angled his hand to the window. "The arrow will glance off and won't hurt."

He paused, noticing Neytiri had joined the group listening.

"I could add a few things," Trudy said.

"Yeah, go ahead," Jake answered.

"All right," Trudy said, jumping down from inside the cargo area onto the ground. The jump made the top of her head reach just a little above waist level. She pointed up to the rotor. "You could do some serious damage if you toss a good size rock into the rotor while it's running. The resulting blade imbalance would pretty much cause it to rip itself apart. Also, if you're gonna come up on one of these without the pilot or the gunner noticing, you're gonna have to come from the top and from behind."

The groups of Ikran makto had cycled through, listening to the message they had repeated a few times. A few had taken it on themselves to spread the message to those who weren't present. Occasionally, a small group would approach, getting close to the ship, feeling what it was made of, what it looked like. He sat by the fire, watching with interest as one of the Omatakaya painted the ship with tsamopin , the war colors of the clan. Norm was sitting a little ways away, looking drowsy, while Trudy sat on the cargo hold floor, her legs hanging out the side.

The painter paused for a minute, knelt by the door then said something to Trudy. He proceeded to paint the part of her arms that weren't covered by a shirt with blue paint.

"Gonna make me look like one of you I guess?" Trudy said with a slight grin.

The painter muttered something and gestured to his face. With only slight hesitation, She took a breath and removed her mask.

"Careful Trudy" Norm said warningly. Trudy responded by signaling OK with her thumb and pointer finger. The painter used a small brush, painting blue stripes across her cheeks. Trudy waited a moment after he had done, then put her mask back on, purging it before taking a breath.

"I think it's time to go to sleep," Norm said.

"Crap," Trudy said, looking around. "I think we waited too long, everyone's asleep." Jake looked around, seeing that she was right, quite a few of them had already passed out.

"We probably shouldn't do an engine start now," Norm said. "You can walk down the slope back to the shack from here. It's less than a few minutes away."

"Me, walking through that forest alone? Gee thanks."

"You won't be alone," Norm said grinning. "I'll go with you."

Trudy jumped up, looking somewhat amused. "To protect me against what may be out there?"

Jake grinned. "Make him carry you." he suggested wryly.

Trudy mimicked looking thoughtful, grinning widely. "I think that's a good idea, why don't you carry me?"

"Jake!" Norm said with a laugh. "No, I..." Trudy just stared, her stance showing a steadfastness, and her face showing amusement.

"How often have I hauled your ass around these mountains back and forth?"

"Well, that's... You're really gonna make me carry you?" Norm laughed. Trudy nodded. "Geez," Norm said kneeling down. "All right." Trudy leaned back and let Norm pick her up.

"Better watch your back Jake," Norm said as he disappeared through the brush, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He let the grin linger. It felt good to engage in a little foolishness; it distracted him from how he really felt. He glanced again to the spot where Norm and Trudy had disappeared. Their feelings for each other had become a little more open lately. He worried though; what may happen.

Neytiri walked close, sitting down across from him. He didn't say anything, but left the remnants of a smile on his face.

"I saw you there," he said. He supposed it didn't need any explanation.

"I was..." Neytiri said, pausing as if searching for a word, "curious. I never knew what you really looked like."

"Yeah, well," he said, smiling out of slight embarrassment. "I've looked a lot better."

"Your legs were... withered."

"Yeah, that's right; they don't work. I got shot in the spine, a long time ago back on Earth."

Neytiri didn't say anything, but looked to the ground as though ashamed.

"I'm not angry," he said. "Actually, that's part of the reason I came here. So I could have a working pair of legs again." She looked up at him, her emotion ambiguous. "What?" He asked, trying to understand what the matter was.

"You have had much to prove among my people. I am sorry for..." She cast her eyes to the ground again. "When I said you would never be one of us. I understand now, how you truly feel about my people."

He edged closer to her. "Neytiri," he said, doing his best to pronounce it right. " I don't blame you for that. I know how you felt." She looked at him, directly in the eyes. "I love you."

She turned her face away and sat still for a moment. Then she stood and walked over to retrieve the bowl of white paint that someone had left near the gunship. She walked back and sat in front of him. He pretended not to notice the tear streaks around her eyes. She dipped her palm in the paint, let it drip for a moment, then placed her hand on the left side of his chest, above the heart.

"It is a custom, before going into battle."

He sat at the edge of the makeshift bunk, which was essentially the link pod with a gray wool blanket spread over it. His mind wandered as Trudy prepared herself for sleep in the opposite partition. The sound of teeth-brushing and gargling carried over.

Norm's pod burst open. "Woah," Norm said as he sat up, rubbing his face with his hands. "You were already disconnected when I got back."

"Yeah, I'm dog tired."

"So what are you thinking?" Norm said. "Do we have a chance tomorrow?"

"Yup."

Norm nodded, "Right, well I guess your right, what else are we going to do?"

"Yup."

Norm stood and took a blanket from the metal shelf on the wall. He spread it out over the bed.

"You need a glass of water or something?"

"I took care of that already, but thanks."

"Okay,"

Jake lay back on the bed. "Good night," he called out.

"G'night," Norm said through his canteen.

"Night," Trudy said from behind the partition.

The idea of good sleep was almost laughable. The best he was going to manage was a light daze. Still, whatever rest he could manage was welcome.

THE AND