Preface: I wouldn't recommend reading this if you haven't already read "Five seconds too late." For one thing, there are spoilers; for another, none of it will make sense. "Five seconds" is what provides the actual story. These nuggets are merely bonus material, with the first chapter corresponding with chapter two of "Five seconds." (Feel free to skip my babblings and proceed to the actual fic if you like.)

I initially had a really hard time picking a genre for "Five seconds;" for a while I just left it at "general." Is it angst? Hurt/comfort? There's plenty of both, but the story was never about that. Supernatural? Spiritual? Meh. Family? Mo'at and Mo'kriya and the other Omaticaya feature heavily, but they are sort of supporting characters when it comes down to it. That's when I realized: this fic is a romance. Not a typical romance plot, maybe. But everything was ultimately about Jake and Neytiri and the unique character of their love.

"Five seconds" followed Neytiri's journey, but this really is a two-way romance, and I hope these vignettes help highlight that. Jake and Neytiri have to endure the ultimate in long-distance relationships. They have to work together and literally conquer death to be together; no small feat when you consider that the moon-brain is a scientifically quantifiable phenomenon (as Grace points out), and certain mechanisms need to be in place if you want to interact with it.

The other thing I hope to highlight is how strong these two have to be. One of my pet peeves about the classic and popular romances is the number of stories in which one partner is removed from the picture and the other either commits suicide or becomes a non-functioning emotional wreck. I'm not saying that those are bad stories, but to me, true love is about strength, faith, hope... living the life your partner would've wanted you to live. It annoyed me that we're supposed to see the undoing of the partner left behind as validation of the relationship's power. I wanted to write a story where, for once, the lovers are rewarded for keeping their heads up. If either half of the couple in "five seconds" had given in and taken the easy way out, their story would not have had a happy ending.

Jake and Neytiri are actually pretty epic, I've been finding. I hope you enjoy. And don't forget to review!