— 𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐘𝐀𝐌.
Toruka connected her queue, wanting to take some time off from the world and go visit the children with her friend.
She arrived in a meadow, immediately engulfed in tiny hands wrapped around her legs. "Toruka!" One of the little girls shouted, her name was May; one of the villagers daughters who passed away at the age of five.
"Why, hello there May. What do we have here?" She softly said, bending down to her level to see the toy she made. "You made this yourself?" She asked. May shook her head, pointing over to the newest child who was there. Neteyam.
"Did you thank him?" She said with a smile. May nodded before leaning in. "Toruka, I think he is sad." She said with a soft pout.
Toruk could sense the boys sadness, most of the children here were either happy or at peace, but Neteyams pain traveled deep within Eywa. "How about I go talk to him and you find some food for the others, yeah?" Patting the girls head, she watched as May ran off before she moved over to Neteyam.
"Hi." She said slowly, not wanting to scare the other as she could sense his discomfort. "Where am I?" He said slowly, eyes on the ground as he held a miniature Great Leonopteryx in his hands. "You are neither here nor there." She said chuckling. "You are in the in between, where you make a choice to move on, or to wait to be reincarnated."
Neteyams ears flickered back, in this realm he was only five. Oblivious to the world and unaware of how he passed, or why. "How did I end up here?" He said hesitantly.
Toruka grimaced, she didn't want to upset the boy anymore than he already was, but she would want someone to be honest with her. "You were shot. Killed by bad men." Neteyam looked up at Toruk now, his eyes wide as they began to fill with tears. "Is my brother okay?" He asked. "My sisters? My parents?"
Toruka put a hand out for the other to hold. "Let me take you somewhere." She said. "They are alright, your mother wants to see you though." She said softly. Neteyams' expression got even more hurt, never expecting this. "Did she make it?"
Neteyam held onto her hand as they stood up, his little feet carrying him as fast as he could as they made their way over to where the adults resided, also making the decision to return or stay. Toruka bent down to his level before she pointed. "Do you—"
She didn't have time to finish, Neteyam was already racing towards Ney'tiri. "Mom! Mom!" He said. Ney'tiri turned around, immediately bending down to scoop him up in his arms. "Neteyam.." She said softly. Her tears fell. "You are alright."
Neteyam wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, burying his face in the crook of it as his tail securely wrapped around her forearm. "I was so scared. I didn't know where I was."
Ney'tiri could only hold him, dropping to her knees as she thanked Eywa that he was alright. "Sh, sh.. I'm here."
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Ney'tiri and Neteyam spent their days together, she explained to him about what had happened and how he was protecting Lo'ak when he was shot from behind. "You were a mighty warrior, protecting your brother till the very end." Neteyam couldn't remember, he refused to remember; but deep inside he could remember the pain he felt.
Neteyam laid his head on his mothers lap, the other braiding a few pieces of his hair that came undo. "Toruka said that we can stay or be reincarnated." Ney'tiri stiffened in her place. "Do you want to stay here?"
Ney'tiri couldn't lie to him. "Yes." As much as in pained her to not want to return, she knew it was her time to finally pass over. It was her time to let go and she couldn't go against it. Her father, sister, Grace, many of her people who passed were here; she felt at peace and wanted that. "It's my time to pass, but you must make the choice, yes?" Neteyam sat up, but didn't look at her, keeping his gaze to the fire that was infront of them.
"I want to go, but I will miss you." He admitted. He finally turned, his body now at the age he was when he passed. She placed a hand against his cheek with a soft smile. "No matter where you go, if you stay or return, I will be there with you." Placing a kiss on his cheek, she brought the others head back down to her lap to finish.
"Do you think they miss us?" Ney'tiri got to see her family once when Toruka came to her, saying she could go and see them through her eyes—like a projector. "They do, Lo'ak misses you a lot. Kiri and Tuk talk about you and your father.. your father is taking is the hardest without us." She chuckled softly. "He still can't do Tuks hair right, but he is catching on."
Neteyam softly laughed before he nodded. "I think I want to return, mom." Ney'tiri smiled, she couldn't blame him and never would. "Whenever you are ready, let Toruka know and she will know what to do."
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It took Neteyam almost a month to muster up the courage to tell Toruka what he was feeling, scared and embarrassed that it would be a stupid decision. Bells had rung throughout the meadow he grew accustomed to. Laying in the grass, he sat up and looked around before small stars began to fall down, but never touching the ground.
"Children! Come quick, your letters are here." Toruka said, suddenly appearing in the center of the grassy area. The children had become used to going to their older bodies and younger, moving in between the ages they were before everything happened, or being pure.
Toruka read off the letters, each child getting an opportunity to either staying or going back. As Toruka reached Jakes, she couldn't admit that her heart broke.
"Lets read this one, shall we?" She said. 'Neteyam, you were my blessing and joy, my first born. I promise to leave many fish for you and wait for you to be at peace. Could you swim to me again? Let's meet again." She already knew who was who, but she liked to get the kids guessing. "Who is the mighty fisherman?" She asked.
Neteyam raised his arm with an excited glee. "Do you want to swim back to him?" She asked slowly. He felt like all eyes were on him, but he nodded. "Yes!"
Toruka smiled and went back to reading the letters the parents left for their children on their sands. "Alright, lets go eat. I heard some of you left me some good meat." The kidd all giggled at her before the ran back to the adults, all who which either took care of some kids, or watching their owns kids.
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The next day Neteyam held onto Torukas hand, she said the two were going to go somewhere and he had to be there. "Am I in trouble?" He asked.
"No—no, this is a place where I take the children before we get them ready to go home. I have to tell you something though, alright?" He nodded, having arrived to a quiet area in the grass before the two sat down. "When children pass, they almost get replaced. A son for a son, daughter for daughter, brother for brother, and so on. Do you understand?" She said, hoping the other was catching on.
"When you pass over, you will be taking over someones life. You will be yourself, your personality and life will be the same; but someone will have died for it to happen. Does that make sense?" Neteyam nodded slowly. "So when I pass back over, someone will die because of me?"
Toruka shook her head. "No, I can see the pathway for when people are about to pass. They can't cheat death when they are up there, but no one said anything down here about that." The two finally had an understanding.
"If you ever see my dad, will you tell him I was never mad at him." He said. She nodded, "Your dad is on the way to see me now. Stay here, alright?"
"Am I about to pass over?" She shook her head once more, this time the scenery changed and he was now in a small circle with other Na'vis, all running in a circle.
He was at peace, in no pain. He moved out of the group, going off into the distance to what seemed to be pulling him in the direction. His hand was lifted, he was saying hello to a familiar feeling, but he couldn't tell who. His smile still pure.
He took a deep breath and was back into his older self, he was finally at peace. No longer needing to be young and free; he was okay. He turned back before scooping a toddler Na'vi in his arms before returning back to the group.
He was gonna be okay.
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Neteyam said goodbye to his mom, arms wrapping around her as they both teared up a bit. "I will always be here, my mighty warrior."
Toruka stood off to the side, about to bring Neteyam to where he would go to wait for the person to come so he could leave. "Tell everyone I said I miss them, okay?" Ney'tiri kissed the top of his head once more before she watched her eldest leave.
"When you return to your body up there, you will meet my mother first. I don't see how it happens, but you just return. Your energy giving back from Eywa forms into a body, a Na'vi body. You will feel pain, hurt, anger, all the emotions. It will be as if you never passed." Toruka explained as the two walked down to the now lightly dimmed meadow, the bioluminescence all scattered across the grounds now as she sat the boy down. "You will remember feeling pain, but not how. It will be as if you were asleep for a year. My mother will feed you, your body will be weak. Drink water and rest, awake of course."
"Okay, thank you." He said. He was quiet for a few moments before he asked another question. "Is the person coming?" He asked, looking up at the other. "Yes, they are right.." She looked around before she spotted them. "There."
The person came closer, a pained look on their faces before collapsing in Torukas' arms. "It is alright, you wre okay now." She held the person close in her arms before sitting them down as well. "This is Neteyam, he is who will be replacing you." She said to the other.
The other gave them a nod, eyes teary. "I'm sorry for what happened." They said, Neteyam returned the phrase, unaware who this person was. "Neteyam, connect your queue to the ground. Let your mind go blank and you will be free. I will see you there, okay?" Toruka passed the Na'vi off to a friend who was down there with them, helping them walk up the hill to their new home.
"Take your time with this, you'll be alright."
AN: teyam isn't coming back next chapter. this is the chapter i promised everyone. there is a spoiler in it! im too nice, thats why. hehe. anway, the ending of this chapter doesnt happen till much much later, why? because the person is alive. the navi who passes isnt a main one or side one, (or are they??) jk. neteyam was always going to come back.
&&,, i have about 20 more chapters left for this book. this is nowhere near ending y'all. i got so much more. we hit 32k?! i wouldnt end it like that without feeding yall sm.
last note. | this chapter is showing when neteyam arrived to the in between, him see neytiri and the two talking ab why they want to stay and the other return, shows neteyam getting the letter and also neteyam coming back. i promised to make this, but the ending was definitely a hard one to make. i didnt know if i wanted to add it or not, but i did anyway because i like taking risks.