Okay so this was written over a few days, I did try to make it flow better but it still might read a bit odd.
What if Wawen didn't die? What if by some odd miracle his fall was soften by leaves and vines like Neytiri's fall? Or what if his ikran, injured as it was, found enough strength to save its rider just long enough to set him safely on the ground?
He's found after the battle by other survivors, but because of how grievous his wounds are and how he hit the floating island he has to slowly relearn how to walk and move once his body heals enough for movement. Alongside that the Trr'ong clan was massacred by the RDA and it leaves him believing that So'lek didn't survive too, so as he heals he makes a vow that he will do everything he can to ensure that young warriors do not meet the same fate as his mentee. He joins the resistance as a way to help in that regard mostly since the Omaticaya clan is close to the Resistance.
He hears about the happenings of the west from other recon scouts, the establishment of the Resistance there, the rescue of the Sarentu, the spires, and sky breaker. When he hears about the burning of the Kinglor forest his heart breaks with those around him, but the news also brings him hope because he hears So'lek's name again for the first time since the battle. The young man he thought had been lost in the Hallelujah mountains is alive, and if what he hears is true he's angry at the taking of the Sarentu, Tamtey.
After the smoke physically and metaphorically clears he volunteers to go check in on the Western Frontier, a request that his branch happily grants. It takes him some time to get to the Western Frontier, since after the battle of the Hallelujah mountains he never felt ready to bond again with a different ikran.
He meets with the Kame'tire, and the Zeswa who tell him tales of what their region has been facing and had just gone through. He makes his way to the Resistance and the Aranahe who all report the same thing. He even meets the four Sarentu, Nor, Teylan, Rasi and their Tsahik Ri'nela, who pause when they take him in, curious glances shared between the four but none elaborate as to why. He asks about their newest member and Olo'eyktan but all he gets are shrugs and the news that they have not seen the two in some weeks.
It's not what he wanted to hear but what can he do? So, instead of wallowing in despair he decides that the trip may as well serve as break from all the fighting. He starts to go around the camps learning new things, hearing new gossip; he even becomes good friends with Kin and Relun. When he finally meets "The Sarentu" it's when hes visiting the Kinglor Forest.
When he meets Tamtey he thinks she's just an ordinary na'vi. She's in the river up to her hips, her back is to him but he can just peek the tiny flailing limbs of a baby in her arms as their mother tries to bait some fish closer with her tail.
He starts to leave them to their privacy when the screeching of a very angry ikran has him ducking. The beast swooping only inches above him and landing between him and duo. When he looks up he sees: the angry and clearly over protective ikran, the woman coming out of the water, and the mark beneath her eye the baby in her arms has one to match. Finally after calming her ikran they greet each other, she doesn't tell him her babies name though. He does notice that she looks at him with a strange look just like the others did but be doesn't want to be rude and point it out.
Instead they greet one another and having heard about the other from other na'vi they get to talking like two ordinary people to the point that enough time passes that it's starting to get dark. It's then that they hear another ikran screech from above them and it's call answered by hers.
Wawen stands frozen beside Tamtey as he watches Iley land, So'lek jumping from her back. The young warrior he once new is gone, now in front of him is seasoned warrior, lines of age beginning to mark his face if only just lightly, he has scars he didn't before, even the look in his eyes and the way he carries himself have changed.
The two men meet is a tight embrace there's no pause to take the other in more than they have, they hug in such a tightness almost as if scared that the other will vanish, they cry their regrets and sorrows each apologizing for not looking more thoroughly, for accepting the other death, and they rejoice that they were so wrong.
"Look at you, my brother. You have changed so much, you're grown now how it saddens me to have missed so much." He says holding So'leks face.
"I could say the same to you brother, but you have not missed everything. Like the humans like to say "better late then never"; ma Tamtey He calls towards who had stepped away to give them privacy.
When she nears he can now the knowing look in her eyes; she'd known who he was and what him being there meant long before he even knew her. She smiles and greets him again more genuinely and familiar then their earlier meeting.
They tell him their story, how its truly happened, not the exaggerations told by others. How they met in the TAP facility, So'lek becoming a kind of mentor, the spires, and skybreaker, even the events with the Mangkwan. He even learns that it was Tamtey who had to start courting his mentee since the man was adamant that she did not see him as more an event that had started before her kidnapping. No one knew but by that time the two were newly bonded and as they had shortly discovered already expectant parents.
That's when he looks at the baby more thoroughly he shares his mother's eyes and her smile, his markings unique to himself, and to Wawens delight he has So'leks glare a discovery made when a Shimmyfly lands on him. When he asks about his name he's met with Tamtey settling the baby in arms and like the surprises he's been met with since he arrived they surprise him even more.
"I wanted him to have a name he could always be proud of." So'lek tells him and he holds Tamtey as if to ground himself.
"Wawen meet your uncle." It's her that says it as So'lek is looking at his mentor and bother for approval. Wawen the senior doesn't know what to do but to cry in happiness.
Just imagine Wawen still living and meeting So'lek years later, the boy he once new is now grown, a more than respected warrior, he's bonded and a father to boot. Just imagine his reaction to learning So'lek and Tamtey had names their son, their firstborn after him, Wawen becoming an uncle to their son and honorary member of the Sarentu. Maybe even a few years later he's asked by them to be their son's mentor too.
