The clan of the Omaticaya had not barred her way to their healer, a fact for which Galina was thankful. However, the clanspeople did not help her either.

Then again, perhaps the two nantang padding behind her protecting her daughter might have something to do with their non-interference. The soft murmurs of Nantangte reaching her ears tended to confirm this supposition.

Galina raised her nose and sniffed. She caught the scent of the healer woman, and knew exactly where to find her.

Kalinkey did not bother with a greeting. She did not say a word, merely taking Ayzekwä from Galina and gently laying him on a faded yet richly worked rug. The healer knelt beside him, conducting a quick inspection of his wounds.

"These are nantang bites," observed Kalinkey, her voice bland.

Galina's spine stiffened suddenly. She glanced guiltily at Kizlun and 'Rrno hovering at the entry to the healer's alcove, her daughter sandwiched between them.

"It wasn't Kizlun and 'Rrno," objected Irina tearfully. "They would never bite sempu."

The healer looked up in surprise at the young girl. She was clutching a blood-stained axe to her chest, as though it was the most precious thing in the world. "If you say so, then it must be true," replied Kalinkey, correctly relating the names to the two nantang blocking the entrance to her alcove. For a moment she considered asking Irina to surrender the fearsome looking weapon, and promptly discarded the notion. It was clear that the axe belonged to the wounded man. Asking her to give up the axe would create more problems than it would resolve.

"Can you heal him?" asked Galina quietly.

"He is a strong man," replied Kalinkey, not answering the question, although her voice was reassuring. It was unwise to give a commitment to restore to health, when the end result was uncertain. She checked his pulse, noting the threadiness of the rhythm. Ayzekwä had lost a great deal of blood. That was the most important thing to address, especially as Nantangte had halted most of the blood loss with her improvised dressings.

It was well that only two days ago she had refilled her jars of sap from the syulang reypay, the bush the tawtute had called the bloodtree. Quickly, she arranged a hollow vine into the tap of the first jar, squeezed a thorn into the end, and inserted the improvised needle into Ayzekwä's arm to start the transfusion. It only took about two minutes before the threadiness of his heartbeat improved.

One by one, she carefully cleaned and dressed each wound. The worst of the tears in his flesh she stitched before applying the healing resin. Nantang bites could easily rot and fester, unless one ensured the wound was sterile.

All the time Kalinkey worked, the only sound was the low noise of a Na'vi clan at work drifting through the alcove opening. She changed the vine to a new jar and glanced at the unconscious man's face. His colour had improved significantly.

"I need to gather more syulang reypay sap, in case he bleeds more," advised Kalinkey. "When Ayzekwä wakes, he will be both hungry and thirsty. I will arrange for some broth, but you will need to care for him."

Galina replied, "I hear you."

Kalinkey nodded, stood up and brushed past the young girl at the door, still clutching her father's axe. She did not remark that the expression of worry and fear on her face was exactly the same as that on her mother's.

Fingers struggled towards wakefulness. In the moment before he opened his eyes, he realised he really would rather have stayed unconscious, because everything hurt. He blinked once, as a face slowly swam into focus, lit by the pale blue light of a Na'vi lamp.

"Good. You are awake,"" said Galina. Her voice was tight, matching the tension in her face. "It is past time for you to be conscious."

"Hello to you too," replied Fingers sarcastically. He tried to sit up, and let out a most un-masculine squeak of pain as his body insisted on remaining horizontal.

"The stitches in your wounds are pulling," she said. "I will help you up, to spare you unnecessary discomfort."

It still hurt when Galina raised him to a sitting position, and propped him up with coarse woven bags filled with sweet-smelling greenery. Fingers smiled to himself despite the pain, thinking that Galina would probably class this as necessary discomfort. "Where are we?" he asked, not noticing he used the first person plural in his question.

"In the place of the blue ones," answered Galina, and then corrected herself. "The O-ma-ti-cay-a," she enunciated carefully, as thought the word was unfamiliar. "Our daughter told me the name the blue ones use for themselves."

"Is Irina ok?" he demanded, his heart leaping into his mouth.

Galina smiled – the first time he had ever seen her smile. "She is well, and safe." She paused, and frowned slightly. "I am sorry."

"For what?" he asked, puzzled. "You saved our lives."

Fingers received another surprise on a day of surprises. Galina's eyes grew bright with unshed tears, and her lower lip trembled. It was clear she was struggling with her words, when two tears trickled down her cheeks, and she drew in a great sob. "I should have been there," she wept. "If I had been there, y-you would not have b-been hurt."

If there was one thing Fingers shared with the vast majority of his sex, it was an inability to resist a crying woman. "Shhh," he whispered, gingerly gathering her into his arms. "It's ok, Galina," he added. "Irina is safe and well. That's the important thing." The mother of his daughter wept into Fingers' shoulder while he stroked her hair.

"Is sempu awake?" demanded Irina in her piping voice. "Will he live?"

Kalinkey smiled at the young girl. "Yes, my sweet," she said.

"Good," she declared, and went to enter the alcove.

"Not yet," advised Kalinkey firmly, placing a hand on the child's shoulder. "You can't go in."

"Why not?" pouted Irina. "I want to see sempu."

"He needs time to heal your mother," replied Kalinkey.

Irina frowned. "But sempu is the one who was hurt."

The healer shook her head sadly. She knew the wounds that Nantangte bore within her heart were old and deep, but no lotions or poultices at her command would heal them. There was only one magic that could.

Over the weeks that followed, neither Fingers nor Galina referred to her tears. In fact, they hardly spoke at all.

Instead, Galina brought him food, bathed him and dressed his wounds. She even, as the more squeamish would put it, 'attended to his personal needs'. And by that Fingers didn't mean sex, but the inevitable consequence of living – pissing and shitting. She dealt with all of these without batting an eyelid, her serious face intent on her self-appointed task. In all that time she did not smile.

Irina spent much of her time alongside her father, babbling happily and playing mysterious solitary games, trying to cover up her tension. Both father and daughter were intently aware of the frequent long looks Galina took out at the forest. It was clear she was uneasy at being surrounded by the Omaticaya.

The first day he was truly ambulatory, Fingers woke before dawn, gathered his pack and axe, and scooped up his sleeping daughter into one arm, wincing slightly as his scars pulled. He strode out along the main trail from Kelutrel, stopping at the edge of the deep forest, and waited.

He did not have to wait long.

Galina walked lightly down the trail, her two nantang by her side. When she saw Fingers, she stopped dead, the sadness on her face instantly replaced by fury. "Why are you here, away from your bed?" she demanded angrily.

"We're going with you," replied Fingers quietly.

"No, no," she refuted, shaking her head, her fists clenched by her side. "No. It is not what I intend."

Fingers said, "It is not your choice." He took a deep breath, continuing, "If I have learnt anything over the past weeks, it is that Irina needs her mother."

"I gave her up," she declared. "I am not worthy."

He cocked his head to one side and smiled, "It's not your choice, Galina. Irina's heart longs for her mother – and no mother every truly gives up a child." Fingers saw doubt appear, and rolled some virtual dice in his head. He hoped he wasn't about to screw things up like usual. "There is another consideration. My heart longs for yours also," he said.

A terrible vulnerability appeared on her features. "But I betrayed you."

Teleportation was supposed to be impossible, a total abrogation of natural law. However, somehow Fingers managed it. There was no other explanation for how he was instantly at her side. He placed two fingers of his free hand under her chin, and tilted her face up so his lips could caress hers.

When the kiss broke, an eternity later, Irina stirred in his embrace. "Kaltxi, sa'nu," she said sleepily. "Have you stopped fighting with sempu now?"

"I think so," replied Galina. She accepted her daughter from Fingers, balancing the child on one hip, all the while her eyes smiled at her mate through tear-encrusted lashes.

As her fingers of her tight hand entwined with those of his left, Fingers said, "Besides, next time I get injured nigh unto death I want to be sure you are there to rescue me."

A snort of laughter exploded from Galina's lips, and she squeezed his hand. "You," she accused, and could say no more, she was so happy.

"Hey," replied Fingers, "it's worked for me so far."

The woman who was Nantangte laughed, and kissed Fingers on the cheek. The couple took their daughter, and walked together into the forest, followed by their two viperwolves.

Irina grew into a handsome young woman, travelling constantly between the places of the Fifteen Clans with her parents, her brother Ren'zhore, and her sister Se'ayl. Fingers and Galina were could not stay in one place for long – nor could the nantang pack that were the descendants of Kizlun and 'Rrno. Her father always said that her mother gave him a bad case of itchy feet.

Irina loved to sing, and learned the songs of all the clans. She was in her adolescence when she started to make her own songs, and soon became renowned amongst the Na'vi for the strength and purity of her voice, and her skill with lyrics.

The first time she sang the ballad of Nantangte and Ayzekwä before the clan of the Unìltiranyu, her parents' faces flushed with a mix of embarrassment and pleasure. The rapturous applause she received dismayed them even further, especially when the olo'eyktan of the clan greeted them after the song, telling all present of his joy that Fingers and Galina found happiness, for none deserved it more.

Afterwards, Fingers grumbled that his life was over, thanks to her song. His complaints were only stopped by Galina clipping the back of his head, and telling Irina not to listen to her father, who was only talking rubbish like usual. He laughed, kissed his mate, and told his daughter he was very proud of her.

A wistful smile appeared on Irina's face as she watched the love between her mother and father, wondering if she would ever be so lucky to find a love like theirs.

Irina would not have long to wait.

But that was another story.