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“Karyu So’lek,” Tamtey flirted, “You come here often?”
So’lek’s ears immediately tinted pink, and he rubbed his hand across his face to hide his expression. “You cannot call me that, yawnetu,” he groaned, “It makes me feel too old for you.”
They were in their sleeping area at the Serantu Home.
So’lek had just gotten back from hunting. Tamtey had taken the day off, which she had been doing more and more often since the RDA left.
No one could blame her. The last four years, she had spent running and running and fighting and setting light to factories and— Well, she could have some downtime, especially if the boredom made her randy.
She approached So’lek slowly, his eyes tracking her across the small room. She swished her tail deliberately, slowly, coiling and uncoiling it to show the tension in her body.
When she got close enough, So’lek caught her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her flush with him. She groaned and kissed him, gasping when she felt him run his nails along her ribcage.
“Go lie down,” he told her, breathless, and she quickly obeyed.
She would take charge sometimes, but she really preferred when he was in control.
She lay back against their woven floor, rubbing her thighs together as So’lek undressed, his chest guard and loincloth cast aside.
Tamtey flipped over so he could undo hers, making sure to wind their tails together and wiggle her hips while So’lek struggled to focus on undressing her.
Sometimes they did not get through this part. Sometimes they gave up, and So’lek would simply pull aside her loincloth and make do, but he liked seeing her chest enough to fight for it.
When he flipped her back over, he admired her breasts, gaze heavy as he looked them over. He cupped one in his hand, and tweaked her nipple, his calloused fingers— Eywa, his fingers were so wonderful— made her clench her teeth and make little noises of pleasure.
When he leaned down to suck her nipple into his mouth, Tamtey lifted her head with some difficulty, and breathed into his ear: “Karyuä,” My teacher.
He popped his mouth off her nipple and bade, “Quiet, quiet,” though his ears were pink with arousal.
He moved down, towards her cunt, and hiked her legs over his shoulders.
He started by licking a long line from her core to her clit. Then he wrapped his hands around her hips and pulled them up even higher, giving him the perfect angle to lick into her cunt. She cried out, and, arms stretched over her head, fisted her hands into the weave beneath them.
When So’lek was done licking into her, he lowered her back down and moved to her clit, sucking and running his tongue along it.
He settled his left hand over her hips, pinning her down, and pushed two fingers into her cunt at once, certain that she could take it. She whined, clenching her legs around his head.
She felt him crook his fingers inside her. He found her G-spot with practiced ease, pressing on it even as she tried raising her hips upward, instinctually trying to avoid the overstimulation. She shuddered weakly—
He kept that pressure on her, working his fingers— so coarse and thick— up and down. The firm draw drove her crazy—
“Fuck— fuck,” she whined, “Right there— right—“
She came shaking, and he worked her through it, drawing it out until she collapsed back onto the floor, limp. They breathed in tandem, So’lek sitting above her, his mouth and jaw shiny and slick in the lantern light.
Dreamily, Tamtey smiled up at him. She pulled him down and kissed him, tasting herself on her tongue. When she was done, his eyes were still dark with lust.
“My turn now?” He asked, voice ragged.
“Your turn now,” she replied, sounding much the same.
<><><>
It was not easy for Na’vi to have children. While most did at one point or another, it usually happened after trying deliberately for three or four years.
This was why it was surprising when Tamtey stopped bleeding. At first, she was unconcerned. She skipped bloods occasionally, and her cycle was longer than most anyway.
But one day, she thought to check the calendar and saw it had been ten weeks. Beyond that, her chest guard had been uncomfortable recently, no matter how much she shifted it around. It was enough to make her nervous.
She visited the healer at the Aranahe Hometree, half because news travelled too quickly at the Resistance HQ, and half because she was not sure her human friends knew much about Na’vi biology.
For example, Na’vi pregnancies lasted twelve months, not nine.
The healer took one look at her and announced, already reaching for his herb bag, “Yes, definitely pregnant.”
“You—” Tamtey stammered, “You did not even examine me.”
“Psh,” he waved his hand dismissively, “I can smell it.”
Tamtey went pink in the face, “Can everyone?” she asked.
The healer shook his head. “No, I have an especially exact nose. Good for this work… Others will not notice for some time, probably… three, four months?”
“Oh.”
The healer kept talking, but Tamtey’s attention drifted. How would So’lek respond? He was a good man, but Tamtey had seen him around children. How his back went stiff and his eyes wide, and he quickly handed them off to someone else.
He would feel differently about his own child, Tamtey thought, but men were unpredictable creatures.
She was sent home with instructions on what to eat, herbs to reduce nausea, and her thoughts running wild.
<><><>
She found So’lek relaxing beside Dyer’s Bowl. His ikran, Ìley, was curled up beside him. When he saw Tamtey walking up, he immediately smiled at her and jutted a thumb toward Ìley.
“Someone wanted to sunbathe.”
Ìley huffed and swished his tail lightly, but otherwise did not move.
Tamtey laughed nervously before sitting down on So’lek’s other side.
She felt like delaying. She felt like going swimming with him in Dyer’s Bowl, or going hunting together in the nearby rainforest, or— Hell— flying their ikran out to the cliffs and picking blaze fruit.
But she had this strategy for when she didn’t want to do something. It had served her well through the years. Here it was: doing it anyway, as soon as possible. Gritting her teeth and forcing the words out.
“I’m—” she started, “I visited the Aranahe today.”
Dammit.
“Good people,” So’lek commented.
“I never see you around there.”
“Well, I spent years trying to convince them to join the war effort. Got on their nerves some.”
“Oh, I had not thought about that,” Tamtey sighed, “I was… going to see their healer.”
So’lek turned to her, brows furrowed in concern. “For you?”
“Yeah, I—” Tamtey tucked her face against his shoulder, so she didn’t have to meet his eyes, “I have to say, he had no bedside manner—”
“Tamtey,” So’lek stopped her, his voice low and concerned, “Are you okay?”
She grit her teeth. “I’m pregnant.”
So’lek stiffened. Seconds ticked by with Tamtey keeping her eyes down. Then, he squeezed her shoulder and let out the breath he’d been holding in.
“I am sorry,” he said miserably. Tamtey’s heart dropped. “I should have been more careful. You are so young— I— ”
Tamtey shot up straight and looked him in the eyes. “You are leaving me?” She asked, desperately.
“No,” So’lek contested, “Never. Never.”
“Then why are you apologizing?”
“You are so young,” So’lek looked anguished, “And you are free— for the first time in your life, you can spend your days however you want, and now I have—”
Tamtey scoffed and jumped to her feet. “You are ridiculous!” she countered, “I am an adult. I make my own choices. I chose to bond you and fuck you, and now I’m pregnant and first of all—“ first of all— “It’s— it’s— it’s not like I’m not happy about it.”
She had always wanted children.
Surprise flashed across his expression then, though his eyes were still weighed down with sorrow. “Okay, okay—” he began.
But Tamtey was already turning on her heel and storming away, mainly because she was starting to feel like crying, and she knew that if she opened her mouth, she’d start sobbing and So’lek would get that anguished look on his face again.
“Tamtey!” He called out, voice desperate, “Wait, please come back—”
She could hear him stand, rocks tumbling down the shore, but she just turned into the forest and left him behind.
<><><>
She was still angry with him when night fell, so she contemplated sleeping at the Resistance HQ, or maybe an outpost. Something stopped her: the idea that he might come home and not find her there.
She pictured his face. Would it fall with devastation? Go pale with worry? The idea made her sick.
Tamtey settled into their sleeping area after nightfall. He was not there when she arrived, nor for the hour that she spent tossing and turning, getting progressively more upset.
Yes, she was young— much younger than most Na’vi when they had their first child— but she had fought in war. She had watched her sister die when she was ten. She had seen women with children in their arms, and felt jealousy spike in her chest.
She wanted this, though she had expected it would come later.
So’lek had acted like it was his fault, like he was taking her youth away from her, as though it had not been ripped from her years ago.
She fell asleep angry.
It was later, around midnight, that she woke to light shining through their doorway. So’lek slipped through and shut the door behind him as quietly as possible.
Tamtey turned over to face the wall. She could hear him undressing, and then his knees softly hitting the floor behind her. He lay down with her and wrapped his arms around her.
“I am sorry,” he murmured, “Not about the pregnancy, about… not reacting well.”
When Tamtey did not respond, he continued, “I love you. I want what you want.”
An old Na’vi saying. I want what you want. You can trust me.
Tamtey shifted and leaned her head back, so they could look at each other. “But do you want the baby?” She asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling, “Not for me, but for yourself.”
She pressed her hand against his chest, over his heart.
“Yes,” he replied, “You cannot imagine— I have thought about it, and wanted it, but—”
“Do not say I am too young,” Tamtey bade him.
So’lek took her hand from his heart and kissed her palm. In the low light, she could see his eyes glint like they were wet.
“I wanted you to have time for yourself,” he said, “But I cannot make those choices for you, and if you want to have my children instead, then I will not argue. Not when I want it too.”
“Our children,” Tamtey corrected.
“Our children,” So’lek agreed.
Tamtey threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled him down to kiss her.
“Now fuck me?” She asked sweetly, and So’lek chuckled.
<><><>
The healer had been right. Four months later, it was undeniable. Her bump gave her away to the humans and Na’vi alike.
They— especially the humans at the Resistance HQ— would let themselves glance down to the swell. It made her feel off. The feeling was not embarrassment, because she was not embarrassed. If anything, she was proud. No, it was something more like… vulnerability.
In her childhood, stilted and nervous in the halls of the RDA, she could hardly remember seeing any pregnant women. Maybe one, clinging onto some commander when he visited for an inspection.
Her stomach had been covered, and the swell was practically imperceptible beneath her puffy jacket. Human women were generally much more conservative than Na’vi, not baring their bodies in the same way.
Tamtey had been the same during her time with the RDA.
It had been one difficult adjustment after she escaped into the forest: learning to show her legs and stomach.
Apparently, she was still getting used to it.
Today, she was gathering fruit and bark in the rainforest. As she was climbing a twisted scale tree, perilously hopping from mushroom to mushroom, she saw Teylan on the ground, watching her.
“Tsmukan,” She called down, amused, “If So’lek caught you watching and not helping, he would beat you.”
“You look—” Teylan hesitated, as though he knew he was about to say the wrong thing, “More pregnant than I remember. Are you sure you should be up there?”
“Tread carefully with your words, Teylan. I can still fight,” Tamtey cautioned him, “If you want me down faster, you can handle the shell fruit over there.”
She pointed to another tree. It was even taller than the one she was climbing.
Teylan craned his neck to see the fruit, turned green with queasiness, and stammered something like, “I’ll stay down here, actually.”
Tamtey turned her eyes back to the shell fruit before her. It was… shamefully low-quality. The smell made her nose crinkle.
She had been intending to make something quick and easy— no need for fancy ingredients— but she was starting to regret that choice. Everything was so… unappetizing now.
Except for egg fry. And herb roast. And maybe anything involving protein and salt. Her mouth was watering already.
She descended the tree toward Teylan. “I suppose I could head home early. You want to walk together?”
He nodded gratefully.
For some time, they talked about Nor and Ri’nela, and the Serantu Home. The clan had been planning an extension— their own clinic. It would not be finished before Tamtey gave birth, but she appreciated the sentiment.
Then their conversation lulled into silence. Several times, Teylan opened his mouth to speak and then lost his nerve. He finally got it together when they were standing outside the Home.
“Your mate does not like me,” he said, worry flickering in his eyes, “I am concerned that… others will follow suit.”
Tamtey pursed her lips. He was right to worry. So’lek was influential, and he had never liked Teylan. That opinion had been cemented after the mess with Mercer.
“He does not like you now,” She tried, patting him on the shoulder, “But you have decades to change his mind. You’ll be fine.”
When Teylan continued looking nervous, Tamtey made another promise, “He will be understanding in the meantime, or I will make him.”
Teylan may have made mistakes, but she protected her family, and he was family.
<><><>
Another month after that, she was sitting around the fire with Nefika and her daughter, Lurei. The former smiled in her coy way, as though she knew something Tamtey did not.
“The middle four months are quite fun, are they not?” She asked.
“Mmhmm,” Tamtey nodded shamelessly, “My mate will do anything for me, I can still move, and my ikran has not been causing too much trouble.”
“Savor it while it lasts,” the older woman chuckled, “I remember being so excited when I was pregnant, especially when Lurei would kick and dance— but then she started aiming for my bladder. By month eleven, I wanted her out as soon as possible.”
Lurei scoffed and said, “It cannot be that bad.”
Nefika replied, “You will see if you ever give me grandchildren.”
Lurei pretended to gag, but there was mirth in her eyes.
Behind Tamtey, her ikran, Amay, shifted impatiently. The dragon-like creature had been restless recently and would work off her energy by chasing around the other ikran in the rookery.
Tamtey knew that Amay was struggling with not being ridden so much, so she was trying to take her out more. She and So’lek had started flying together regularly, exploring the Hallelujah Mountains.
One such day, they were floating in the shallow pond on Storytellers’ Island, watching Amay and Ìley glide above them.
When Tamtey looked over at So’lek, she could see his expression had tightened. His eyes were troubled, and his jaw clenched.
She put her hand over his heart, and he wrapped his arm around her, fingers brushing her bump.
“What are you thinking about?” She asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he sighed. When Tamtey gave him an expectant look, he continued reluctantly, “My first tribe.”
So’lek had been born to the Trr’ong. When he was twenty, the tribe was massacred at Ayram Alusìng, and the remaining members scattered to the winds.
“I’m sorry. I know there is nothing to say,” Tamtey murmured. She reached for her kuru and offered it to him, “We could—”
“No, no,” He was resolute, “I will not stress you.”
“I am not weak,” Tamtey chided.
“I know, that is not the issue… I want these months to be easy— and happy— for you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.
Tamtey considered how to move forward, how to help So’lek without pushing him. She settled on redirection.
“You are Trr’ong,” she assured him, “Our children will have Trr’ong blood. They will grow without war, without misery, because we fought for it. Your family that lives with Eywa… I am sure they are smiling at you.”
So’lek held her tighter, “I keep thinking they would have loved to meet this little one. To hold them, to teach them weaving…”
Tamtey’s thoughts flashed to Aha’ri and their mother, Kataru. The pale blue eyes that ran in their family. Aha’ri gasping before going still, gasping for air that would never heal her wounds, her eyes glassy—
She pushed the thoughts away, but So’lek must have seen misery flash over her face.
“And now I have upset you,” he said defeatedly. Tamtey brushed her fingers along his jaw, tilting his head to the side so that they could kiss.
“You could never upset me. You have given me too much.”
<><><>
Their son was born four months later, one month earlier than he should have been.
The Aranahe did not allow men into the birthing room, so So’lek paced outside for hours, wearing a circle into the grass.
Tamtey visited him several times, much to the healers’ squabbling. If walking was supposed to move things along, could she not walk to her mate?
Then it became too painful, and she was forced to sit and breathe. Lurei joined her then, hoping to provide a distraction. She rattled on about some new dress she was working on, and some disagreement that two brothers were having.
The noise just made Tamtey nauseous, and more desperate for So’lek.
Tsu’ran was born small, but loud.
He shook in her arms, crying and squirming as though trying to escape his swaddle. Tamtey looked at him as though he was the whole world, shrunk down to fit in her arms. So’lek was much the same.
Tamtey had not noticed him come in, but she was overjoyed to see him.
“Yawnetu,” she murmured, exhausted, “Oh, he is perfect.”
So’lek turned his attention to her, scouring her face for the smallest sign he should call the healers back in. “You are okay? No bleeding?”
“I am fine— no stitches,” she replied. She beckoned So’lek over, “Come, come take him.”
He hesitated, then took the babe into his arms. Tsu’ran was so small and lightweight that his father could hardly believe it. His face was scrunched, but for one brief moment, before the lantern light forced them closed, So’lek saw his eyes were open.
They were the same pale blue that the babe’s mother, aunt, and grandmother all had.