It took almost a month for Na'dia to fully recover from her wounds, and even now she felt as weak as a kitten. The first day she was up on her feet, Zhake had presented her with her swords and her BFG, and promptly told her off for losing her gear and not keeping it clean and in good working order. He handed her a cleaning kit, and she spent the next three days removing the blood, dirt and grime off them, until they gleamed as bright as though they were fresh off the production line.

When Ninat complained how cruel he was to his face, he gave her the spotting scope she had thought lost on the battlefield, and was given exactly the same message. Ninat had to stumble her way through the maintenance manual before she could get the scope working to specs again.

Na'dia reflected at least she had pleasant company while she completed her punishment detail. Txep'ean, the unhelpful lug, had just grinned and shook his head. He knew how much trouble he could be in if he even dared to say a single word.

The first time Na'dia returned to the riverbank to reacquaint herself with her katas with both Txep'ean and Ninat in tow, it seemed as though the entire clan was there watching her. She had felt terribly self-conscious, as though she was a teenager again dancing at her dance studio's annual concert. Then again, she really was a teenager, she supposed. She had asked Max to confirm her equivalent human age, and was not surprised to be told sixteen. No wonder she felt so shy, although once she started on her katas, she felt the sense of calmness descend on her, just as it always had.

That evening, Na'dia had gone through the ceremony of rebirth as an Omaticaya. She teared up right in the middle of the most solemn part, when the entire clan laid hands upon her, recognising her as a part of each of them. It only got worse, when afterwards Ninat sang a new song before the entire clan – the song of the palulukan girl from beyond the sky. A part of her wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment, but she was so proud of belonging to something larger than herself she almost burst with joy. Not only that, the song was not only beautiful and sad, it was triumphant as well – especially the way that Ninat sang. The range and timbre of her voice was – well, inhuman.

Afterwards, Na'dia was sitting with her sisters of the tsumuke'awsiteng, glowing with happiness. There was only one cloud on her horizon.

"You know the humans will try to return," she said.

Ney'tiri said, "I know. Zhake, my mother and I discussed this with your sensei while you were recovering from your wounds."

"And?" asked Na'dia. She would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that discussion.

"It turns out the palulukan already had a solution that she had developed with Max and his team," answered her sister. "They have made an illness that is lethal to humans, and released it into our atmosphere." At Na'dia's expression of concern, Ney'tiri added, "Don't worry – all the remaining humans have been given the cure already, so our humans will not even get sick. Any that come now will catch the disease and quickly die a painless death, unless we give them the cure. They only need to expose their skin to our air to become ill. Zhake told the captain of the starship of this before it left our star system, although I do not think he was believed."

The solution sounded exactly like one that the palulukan would embrace – effective, and as ruthless as all hell. It seemed appropriate, somehow.

"That will not stop them," said Ninat. "Only delay them for a while. I know how unrelenting the tawtute can be." She smiled at her lover as she said this.

"Yes," said Peyral, missing the double entendre completely. "The tawtute could invade us with an army of dreamwalkers, and then where would we be?"

"I am not so worried about the prospect of an army of uniltìranyu," responded Ney'tiri. "It turns out they have a habit in falling in love when they come here, as both Ninat and I can attest. I am more worried about the threat we cannot foresee, for the tawtute are both inventive and devious."

"You can say that again," murmured Ninat, her face turning dark as she gazed at Na'dia with lust in her eyes.

"Hey!" objected Na'dia, as she threw a piece of fruit at her lover.

Ninat had excellent reflexes. She caught the missile in one hand, stuck her tongue out at her lover, and then took an insolent bite out of the succulent purple fruit.

The sisters all burst into laughter, and their discussion continued late into the night.

Na'dia and Ninat wandered back to their sleeping platform with their arms wrapped around each other's waists.

"Do you think Txep'ean will still be awake?" asked Na'dia.

"He won't mind if we wake him up," answered her life-mate. "Not if you are thinking the same thing I am."

"I would have to make the bond with you to find out what you were thinking," teased Na'dia. "And then Txep'ean will get grumpy if we don't include him in tsahaylu."

"You come up with the best reasons for having sex," said Ninat contentedly. "Are all tawtute as randy as you?"

"I don't know," answered Na'dia. "I haven't met all the tawtute. There are too many of them." Would they return again under the banners of war? Na'dia shivered at the thought of their numbers, even from five light-years away.

Ninat felt her lover's body stiffen at the thought of the challenges that lay ahead. "Don't worry, my love," she said, and kissed her warmly on her lips. "Eywa will provide. You'll see."

It turned out that Ninat was right. She did.

THE END.