A/N: First attempt, and not sure I'm entirely happy with it, but I've only seen the film once. When I have it on DVD then it'll probably be longer and better :) I hope you enjoy this one for now.

Then And Now

It isn't what I expect it to be.

But then, what I expected it to be wasn't exactly defined. But there'd be a voice. A female voice, naturally. Maybe even Grace. Then I'd wake up to Neytiri's golden, glittering eyes. And I'd be home. Well, the latter part turned out to be true. I did wake up to Neytiri's gaze. And I was home.

But Eywa…was nothing like She was supposed to be. She was supposed to be comprehensible, on some level. Once I opened my eyes to the truth of The People, I'd never been so arrogant as to assume I'd understand everything She was. Maybe I'd understand the Tree of Souls, at least as Neytiri does. I was wrong. There was a moment, between human and Na'vi, where I wasn't anything except part of Eywa. And I realised how incredibly tiny I was. Am. How incredibly tiny we all are. But that doesn't matter — take away all the tiny grains of sand, and you'd never have a beach.

There was a voice, which was many voices. Grace might have been there. My dead grandmother might have been there. Eytucan. Male, female, babies, old, every single Na'vi that had ever been born, died, lived on Pandora had a voice here, and more besides. But at the same time it wasn't a voice. It was pure emotion. Pure power. Energy. There was nothing that wasn't part of everything.

With something that might have been a hug of thanks, or a parental pat on the head, or an approving nod, I was sent on my way.

Neytiri appeared, a smile lighting her face. We didn't speak for a moment, until she made the familiar, graceful gesture. 'Oe-l nga-ti kame.'

I wanted to reply, I really did. But I couldn't. I was too busy Seeing her. I'd had no idea how blind being born human had made me - I knew that already, but assumed that living through my avatar was enough. Being one of the Omaticaya through adoption was enough. Neytiri had taught me all I need to know. I was wrong. However much I suppressed it, however much I took on the Na'vi culture…human was still in me.

Now that wasn't true. I heard the entire world, all at once; saw every glitter of silver in Neytiri's golden eyes. The breeze wasn't soft and barely noticeable anymore. It moved over my skin like water, each ripple of it obvious. I could tell, instantly, which of the rustles in the trees were animals and which were the wind. I knew why the predators attacked me the first night in the forest, I knew why the prey accepted death when it came.

There was no difference physically between now and then. Everything else had changed absolutely.

And Neytiri saw it on my face. Her smile grew wider when I replied, with the same movement she had.

"I See everything."