LOG-020.Dreams were wonderful, and terrifying things.A simulation conjured within the depths of your own mind. One that took notes from your subconscious, mashing together thoughts and experiences you held within the waking world, before presenting the resulting remix to you while you slept. They could bring the most amazing of experiences, or induce the most horrible of terrors. Lift one up with joy, or push them down with despair.In the end, I was lucky enough to be gifted with the former. I dreamed of my life. Not my second, but my first. I dreamed of home. Of Earth. Of times where everything had been simple, and I had lived softly.I smiled at the sensation of the sun shining down on my face, reclining into the oddly small park bench as I did so.The sights and sounds that surrounded me were familiar. Children playing with a football down by the pitch. A pair of dogs barking at each other before their respective owners took back control of the encounter. The dull bell of the nearby school ringing as the students within crowded the exits, happy to be done for the day.It was warm, with a breeze just barely present enough to cool one down. And if I cared to open my eyes, I felt that a soft blue sky would greet me, sporadically dotted with fluffy white clouds.I could have stayed like that for an eternity. I would have stayed like that for an eternity, had I not known better.But I did. And so I opened my eyes, shivering as the sights and sounds of a calm summer day failed to greet me.I found myself in a glowing forest instead. The alien sky above crowded and kept distant by immense trees, with the only sources of light being the faint streaks of bioluminescence scattered across everything.The bench I had been sitting on, upon inspection, revealed itself to be a series of gnarled, overgrown roots. And as I looked down, I felt myself grow ever slightly despondent at the faint blue tinge to my skin.Still alien. Still an outsider in a body not my own.“But it is.”I froze at the painful, achingly familiar voice, ears twitching and tail writhing in place behind me, before slowly twisting my head to glance upwards, inspecting the canopy once more.Golden eyes watched me with a mix of affection and amusement that hurt to acknowledge, the sinuous body of their owner practically flowing down vines and branches, before landing upon the ground in front of me with nary a whisper.“M-Mom.”Not my first, but certainly my second. I had thought myself hardened and grown, an ambitious woman who could forgo the past and strive towards the future without looking back.In the end, I found myself crying softly as I all but launched myself into the Na’vi’s arms, my form shaking as I felt the nostalgic sensation of long fingers gently running through my hair.“Oh, child. You missed me.”Clinging to the apparition with all the strength I could spare, I shut my eyes as tightly as possible, chin resting atop one of her shoulders, jutting against hardened blue skin whenever I managed to nod.The unspoken question of why I didn’t just come to visit went unasked. Words were…optional, here. Used only due to inexperience, or fielded in the face of fancy. Yet still, I found myself crying harder as my mother continued to all but pet at my hair, humming softly as she did so.I didn’t know how long we stayed like that. It could have been minutes, or hours, or perhaps even days. But eventually it was broken up by a slow, almost rhythmic shifting in the light around us.“You have been very difficult to get a hold of, my little pale one.”Staring down at the undergrowth beneath us, I nodded silently.“Why?”Because I didn’t know if it was safe. Because Eywa could connect to one’s mind, and because I didn’t know if the planetary intelligence would tolerate some strange aberration occupying the mind of one of her creations.What if I wasn’t accepted? What if I was hated? Considered as other? What if-“Opal, you silly girl. You were embraced the very day you were born.”But-“You think yourself a freak. A mutant. Some bizarre product of poisoning, inbreeding, and other negative concepts you consider to be the cause of your special traits.” An amused breath.“You did not once consider that, perhaps, a Na’vi with two kuru, capable of subjugating more bondmates on her lonesome than entire clans have managed in times of war, one bearing the knowledge of a being from beyond the stars of the night sky, might just have been gifted such unique qualities with a certain intent in mind.”My eyes were wide open now, and I slowly found myself pushing back against the woman hugging me, until she took the hint and allowed some space to exist between us, staring at me curiously in between her black and grey hair.I considered the old Tsahìk for a long moment, before finally releasing my grip on her and stepping backwards, mind numb and body stiff.“...You’re not my mom.”Golden eyes stared at me with love held within their radiant depths, even as the forest continued to pulse around us, whispering sweet nothings.“Oh, my darling, shining Opal…I have been your mother since the moment your thoughts first touched my own.”Taking another step back, I held back the hiss bubbling between my lips, doing my best to ignore the small expression of hurt crossing the impostor’s face.“Yeah? Then why…then why wear a mask? Why pretend to be…her? Why not…why not let me see you?”“You do see me-”“The real you.”The being took in a slow breath at that, before letting out a tired sigh.Then her voice came out in such a deadpan that I would have choked had I been eating or drinking anything.“Because your brain would fucking explode if I did, my child.”…Oh.