Alva stared down at her hands, the thin dark cyan stripes ran down her arms and ended just before the beginning of her fingers. She had already put some rings made out of different kinds of vines, twigs and flowers that she had been able to grab just outside of the fence that imprisoned her to the human base on Pandora. Her thumb had a thin vine that curled around it and decorated with a pretty purple flower with the most lovely neon pink veins that she had ever seen, her instincts told her this flower wasn't toxic by touch but if someone were to consume it on the other hand. She had two rings on her middle finger, the bottom one made out of a dark brown twig that she had managed to manipulate into the circular shape she wanted, that one had a green flower with a blue center on it that glowed in the dark. The upper one was a a light green vine that snaked around her finger like one of the snakes she used to have back on earth did, this one didn't have a flower on it, but a small stone that she had by accident found after she stepped of the plane. It sparkled a pretty white and fit well with her other rings. The last ring she had on her finger was a more loose fitting one on her pinky, the material was of a thin stripe of red Na'vi clothing she had found in one of the bulldozers, this ring had her mother's ring attached to it. On her left hand she had matching rings except for the last one that instead of her mother's ring had her father's hanging from the material.

She wiggled her fingers and giggled when her rings made a soft clicking sound against each other that brought her right back to her grandmother's house and the clicking sound she always made when moving around.

Next her eyes were drawn to the ankle bracelet she had, as she had with the other jewelry, convinced the leadership to let her keep. It had taken her a long time to make, four days to be exact. Four days of extreme focus while sitting on the roof of the avatar longhouse, overlooking the nature of Pandora that she adored but hadn't had the chance to discover yet. Every now and then she would see a flash of blue and the shapes of the great ikran flying in the air above and around her. The bracelet had three different kinds of vines braided together and then decorated with shiny pearls she had gotten from her auntie on her third birthday. She shook her foot slightly, observing the mesmerizing pattern on her skin, think dark cyan stripes ran down her legs and on her right foot they continued to the end of her toes, but on her left foot they curled down to where her ankle began and twisted around to meet the stripes that ran on the back. She had once tried counting each of the shining luminescent dots that decorated her body but she would always lose count or get distracted.

Alva stood up with a grin on her lips that she had painted red with some of the war paint she had found in one of the boxes in Quaritch office. She had dressed herself in one of the shorts she had been given from the RDA, but that she had ripped to make shorter and better fit her body that was slightly more curvaceous than the other Avatar bodies. Her shirt was ripped the same way to make the outfit more comfortable to wear in the Pandora climat, and better suit what she liked. Said shirt had been ripped to cover about the same amount of skin as a crop top and she had ripped off the sleeves five minutes within receiving the piece of clothing. Her stomach didn't have any dark blue stripes on them but she could see them twisting and snaking around her waist and down her hips. The bioluminescent dots on her torso ran in straight lines that curved slightly at her waist, and with a few circles along the middle of her stomach.

The avatar stretched much like a cat would after waking up from a nap, she let out a low moan before scratching her back with her previous grin still on her lips. She remembers when she first saw her new self in one of the mirrors and was stunned into silence by her new appearance. She had large eyes, larger than any of the other avatars she had seen. They were ember colored with specks of her old brown in them. Alva remember touching her high cheekbones and then trailing her fingers down to her jawline. Next her eyes had wandered to her nose, or rather snout that she likened to that of a feline. Most of her appearance and mannerism had been cat-like before but was now on a whole new level. She hadn't noticed her pointed ears until she saw them move in her reflection, immediately her hands had flown up to touch them, discovering how sensitive to touch they were. Her body was very different from before too, but her curves were mostly the same, she thanked her ancestors for them everyday. Her waist was much smaller and her shoulders wider, her body was much more muscular than it used to be. She liked it.

Alva shook her head to bring herself out of the memory and fondly ran her hand down the length of her tail and noted happily that her bracelets made a nice clicking sound in unison with her other jewelry. She had one bracelet on her right wrist, both made of a light brown wood with pink and green details engraved in the wood, and two on her left wrist that were made of the same wood but with blue and purple details instead.

Her hair fell into loose curls, something that almost made her miss her human hair with all its tight curls and troubling routines. She was glad to say goodbye to the long routines and steps she had to go through for her hair and she liked her new look, but she would still miss her natural hair. Alva was glad that at least she got to keep some of her curls instead of the flat hair that she had seen all the other avatars have. She had braided some of the hair into thin braids that she had decorated with some left over golden strings and other small hoops that she suspected used to be earrings, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Come on Alva, it's time to sleep!" The lead scientist on Hell's Gate, the legendary Grace Augustine, called up to her with a slight tone of humor to her voice. "Selfridge will have both of our asses if you're not locked in here"

Alva sighed and took one last longing glance at Pandora and closed her eyes to listen to the gentle singing Eywa made through her nature. She opened her mind and ears and listened to what the breeze had to say, what the trees whispered to each other in gentle groans and all the other plants and animals on Pandora. She could feel her longing increase and she could feel Eywa urging her to break free of the chains placed on her but she pushed down the urge with a small giggle. 'The time will come, but that is not now'. Alva felt the sorrow Eywa pushed towards her at her words and she had to suppress her own tears. 'The time will come' she tried to reassure both herself and Eywa.

"Alva!" Grace shouted up again, this time her voice had dropped all humor and was stone cold and dead serious. "Now!"

"You mustn't yell at me, Grace, I will come down." Alva replied in a soothing tone that held the same airy vibe to it that it always did.

The avatar crouched down and grabbed ahold of the unstable pipe that she uses to climb up and down from the roof. It groaned when she applied some of her weight on it but she didn't let it faze her, she had done the same climb at least a thousand or more times. It was the best spot to look over the fences that kept her inside the base, she was still convinced that the fences were there to keep them in rather than to keep Pandora away. In one agile movement she pushed her legs off the edge and around the pipe that she would use to get down on the ground again where an agitated Grace was waiting to scold her.

She slid down the pipe while humming an old tune that had been passed down through generations of her family, now she was the only one who knew it. The thought briefly saddened her but she pushed away the negative emotion and pushed forward the positive ones and let out a happy sigh when she was full with happiness and positivity.

When her feet met the soft grass she immediately burrowed them in the ground and wiggled her toes, but the sensation was cut short when she was abruptly grabbed by the arm by Grace. Her grip was strong and pressed down on the upper arm bracelet that she had made out of some random scrap metal pieces and had formed into the shape of vines twisting around her toned arm. "Grace" She whined slightly at the pain she was feeling. "Why are you grabbing me? It hurts"

"I'm grabbing you because you didn't listen to me. If you had come down when I told you to I wouldn't have had to grab you" Grace scolded her with a motherly tone to her, the same tone a parent used when their child did something they weren't supposed to do. Alva hated being treated like a child but everyone on Hell's Gate still kept treating her that way.

"I was talking to Eywa, she's upset." Alva explained with a barely there wince of discomfort of having her arm grabbed but her eyes remained the same with her normal dreamy look to them. "It's going to be a storm today, the fkio are leaving, can't you hear it? Her voice is thundering in the sky, warning us"

"There's not going to be a storm today, Alva. We're worried about you" The scientist declared to the other Avatar, concerned about the state of her mind and her, in their opinions, downwards spiral in terms of her sanity. Alva had always had her head in the cloud, that was the first thing everyone noticed when they met her, that and the breathy or airy tone to her voice that reminded them all of the singers of old or stereotypical fortune tellers. The more they got to know her the more they noticed that she wasn't like them, she often expressed herself in weird ways and was always happy.

"My auntie used to tell me that people who say that are full of shit, are you full of shit, Grace?" Alva's wide, innocent eyes stared right into Grace's stern eyes with the question burning between them. "I don't think you're full of shit but I don't know why you'd be worried about me. I'm perfectly fine."

"You're displaying a lot of red flags and we're worried that you'll continue this downwards spiral you're doing." Grace sighed and pinched her nose with two of her fingers. "You spend too much time alone, it's not healthy."

"I'm not alone, though. I have Eywa, and the animals, and the plants" The younger woman pointed out with a small smile on her lips to keep the dark thoughts, that threatened to invade her at the other woman's words, at bay. "If you let me out of my cage I'd be much happier."

The older woman sighed again, as she tended to do a lot when she was in the company of Alva, who in her opinion, was exhausting to be around. Grace found her childlike innocence, happy and optimistic nature too much to handle and often resorted to treating her like one would a disobedient child.

"You're not in a cage. For the last time, the fence is there to protect us, not to keep us here." Grace explained for what felt like the hundreth time and she begged that they would soon be inside the building so that she could go back to her human body and take a much needed nap.

"Then why can't I walk in the forest when I want to? I feel caged and I don't like cages"

"You can't walk in the forest alone because it's too dangerous. You'll be killed in only seconds, the fence is for your own protection." Grace exhaled deeply when they finally walked inside the avatar sleeping building and she let go of Alva as if the other woman had burnt her. "Now sleep, you have a busy day tomorrow"

"You're taking me out of the cage?" Alva squealed loudly which made the other drivers stop whatever they were doing and stare at her with annoyance clearly written on their faces.

Grace nodded and face palmed slightly, choosing not to comment on the cage part. Again.

AN: I'm challenging myself to make a 'innocent' and 'optimistic' character, so we'll see how that goes. Check out my other Avatar fanfic too, it's really different from this one!