300 Rains By poetheather Geoff was an Anthropologist studying a newly discovered tribe in the Amazon. After getting a bit more involved in the tribe, he joined in on a sacred ritual. That is where things began to go very wrong and spiral out of his control. Now the tribe is gone and he is left with making sense of this until the tribe returns in 300 rains.

Forty-Four

June 12

Deborah leaned back in her seat and looked over at Melanie, who was sitting comfortably on the couch. “So, any plans on how to find out what happened to you without it ending up on the NatGeo tape?”

Melanie shrugged and had a sip of her rum and mango drink, cut with a little lime juice and cane sugar syrup. It was really tasty and was a nice thing to drink while relaxing. Right now the students were out partying leaving the adults on their own to talk about the things that mattered, like the students. Melanie replied, “Not really. I just have to talk with the chief and the medicine person again, alone without Roberto and the NatGeo people. That shouldn’t be too hard… right?”

“Depends on how they want to wire you up for sound. If they attach a mike to you it could be problematic. Maybe if you talk to the chief before filming really starts you can set something up.” suggested Deborah, drinking some more of her own rum and diet coke. “You know… you probably have to talk to this being that spoke through you to get your actual answers, and that means another ritual.”

With a groan, Melanie let her opinion on that out. “Don’t remind me. The whole idea of doing another one of those scares the crap out of me. If I did this once and I came out looking like this, what’s going to happen a second time? Will they change me back, which might cause far more trouble than it’s worth and the pain is not something I would look forward to, or would there be some… other sort of transformation in store for me. You have no idea just how scary a concept that is.”

Deborah chuckled at her friend’s obvious stress, saying, “You know, after all this anxiety, it’ll probably just come down to a conversation where they say, ‘Oh yeah, we thought you had pretty eyes for a white girl.’”

“That’s not funny!” Melanie threw one of the small pillows towards Deborah who only laughed harder at that as it missed her.

“Yes it is. If the whole thing turns out to be some huge cosmic joke on you then yeah, it will be funny. But I think I agree with several of the others, you seem to fit better this way. You are more relaxed like this, more in tuned with yourself and others. That’s a good thing, especially with the work you do. So I guess when all is said and done they did you a favor.” Deborah grinned and toasted Melanie with that.

With a tiny huff, Melanie put her drink down and crossed her arms under her breasts, not pleased with that idea overall. “Yeah, well at the time it felt like my whole world was falling apart around me. There were even a couple of times that I thought I was going to die, literally. I really could have gone without all of that fun.”

Deborah smiled at her colleague, clearly amused with these antics. “Now now… no pouting. Your cute doesn’t work on me. Why not call your family and I’ll check on dinner, as it still has a little bit more to go. Then we can find a solution to your problem so that you can save this tribe without the Brazilian government finding out that a near magical sexual transformation potion is available right here in their own backyard that would make them they envy of the world and have Transgendered individuals worldwide selling everything they owned for a taste. Because that would be bad. The government doesn’t need that sort of power.”

Melanie gave a very unladylike snort and headed to her room, where she booted up her laptop, connected to Deborah’s wireless and started Skype. While Melanie missed her family greatly, this was almost like being there. The technology was a godsend for people separated by a vast distance. She could see them and it would to help shorten the time so that when she returned from the jungle to civilization she would not hurt so bad. However, Melanie was already missing her wife and daughter and would have preferred to be cuddling with them in the family room to this.

It took a few minutes but the line clicked through. Suddenly the screen of her laptop was filled with Fae’s face. Her heart melted at the sight and she smiled at her wife’s happy and excited smile. “Hey there.”

“Hey! How are you doing?” asked Fae.

“Not too bad. Just talking with Deborah. The kids are off partying on the beach. I missed you.” emotion tinting her voice. She only hoped that she manage to keep from tearing up like she had before.

“I missed you too. Is the studying going well?” asked Fae, clearly interested in how things were going. This was an improvement over last year when she was barely engaged with the whole process. What a difference a year made.

“Yeah. Phil and Deborah have really clicked and she has tentatively okayed his acceptance onto her team. So that means that once he graduates he will probably be coming to Rio for his PhD. Maggie is soaking up stuff like a sponge and is flirting heavily with the locals, especially Thiago, Deb’s GA. Nothing’s gonna come of it, but it’s cute. They’re both having fun and that’s what matters.” relayed Melanie, letting her wife know all that had been going on lately.

Fae looked a bit concerned, “Do you think that she is going to take things hard when you guys leave?”

“No.” Melanie shook her head. “We’ve talked about it and she as good as told me that she is really just having a lot of fun with him. If it makes her happy I am happy for her.”

“That’s good. Partying with a pretty Brazilian boy won’t kill her. She has been a bit too focused on her classwork and not enough on her life.” stated Fae, with a definite opinion on the subject.

“Hey!” protested Melanie, sure that there was a dig against her in there somewhere.

“Hey what? We met when we were both in grad school if you remember. I remember just what you were like then and I know what you got to be like. She has been such a help that she deserves some happiness. Besides, a saner work ethic never killed anyone.” stated Fae.

“Well, I am not arguing with you there. She has really been there for me and has been an excellent student on top of that. So yeah, I want to see her happy as well, so long as it doesn’t mess with her school too much.”

Fae rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly, shaking her head just enough that it tossed her hair. “Honestly Mel, she isn’t going to twink out on you if she finds someone that she likes and clicks with. I mean, can you seriously imagine her doing that? She’s too much like you to do that.”

Melanie thought about that for a moment and then had the good grace to blush a little in embarrassment. “Well, no, but I am worried about her.”

“Why?” Fae’s tone changed to a more serious one, a more protective one, making it clear that Maggie was dear to both of them.

“Because she is a new student to the Department and is connected to me so she has a bit of a target on her thanks to all of this nonsense. I just don’t want any of the others to find any reason to give her any grief over something that isn’t her fault.” Melanie rubbed the back of her neck worriedly. “I mean, I am sure that they are going to come after me some more and going after Maggie would be a way to do that. It makes me sick that someone would do that. But what can I do other than worry?”

“I don’t know love. I guess all you can really do is worry about things and be happy about what you can. We can take care of Maggie and the others, don’t stress about it right now. Okay?” said Fae softly, with a slight smile, clearly trying to comfort her wife.

With a slight frown, Melanie nodded, knowing that there really wasn’t much else she could do at this point. Focusing on the here and now might be the best thing to do at the moment and keep the stressing over the future for later. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly and then said, “Okay.”

Fae grinned and said casually, “Oh, by the way, your daughter wants to say something.”

“She does does she?” replied Melanie playfully, a smile cutting through her melancholy.

“Yep. Just a second.”

Fae got up and moved away from the screen in a blur of movement that the camera was unable to track. A smaller head popped up with a huge grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. Heidi excitedly squealed, “Mommy!”

“Hey there baby, how are you?” Melanie found herself grinning just as broadly as her daughter. Her kid really was infectious.

“Good. We went to the pool today and I went off the high dive all by myself.” Heidi said proudly.

“Really? Was it scary?”

“A little,” admitted Heidi. “But I didn’t let that stop me because I wanted to be brave like you.”

Melanie blushed at this and she could hear Fae giggling in the background. “I am very proud of you for doing that. Well done. Now, are you listening to your mother?”

“Yes.” There was such a tone of ‘Of course’ in that it made Melanie smirk.

“Well good. That means that you get the surprise I got you in Rio.” teased Melanie.

“You got me a surprise? What is it?” asked Heidi, bouncing in the seat, eyes getting wider if that were at all possible.

“Well if I tell you it isn’t a surprise anymore now is it? I put it in the mail yesterday and it should be on the way home right now.”

Heidi squealed excitedly, clapping in her glee.

“Why don’t you go play and I will keep talking to your mother.”

“Okay mommy. I love you and miss you.”

“Love you too baby.” Heidi got up and left. Melanie was a little sad but knew she would be coming home soon-ish.

Fae came back on the screen with a broad smile on her face. She had clearly enjoyed that conversation as much as Melanie had. “She really has been missing you. In fact she has been extra cuddly since you have been gone.”

With a pout, Melanie replied, “That’s not fair. I never get extra cuddles from Heidi.”

Fae smiled softly, her eyes clearly conveying her emotions. “Well, we are busy consoling each other and when you are here I’m not quite gone long enough for Heidi to need the extra comfort. I’m sorry you don’t get the love but then again, we get you so I guess it all balances out.”

“Yeah, I guess it does. I miss you guys.” replied Melanie softly, her heart aching as she spoke, feeling each mile of their separation.

“We miss you. I know it’s going to be a while but I am counting the days.”

“Same here.”

“Nervous about the tribe?”

Melanie nodded. “Yeah. I am almost afraid that something else is going to happen to me.”

“Baby it’s okay. I am sure nothing is going to happen to you. You’ll be okay.” replied Fae calmly.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Melanie, who was far from sure as to what would occur when she reached the Mother’s Children.

“Because I believe that whatever had a hand in this would not screw with our happiness a second time. While this whole thing was painful and nearly tore us apart, it really did save our marriage. I am very much in love with you Mel and I do not believe that all of this happened to you, to us for a bad reason. Sure I may be reading into it a little or even a lot, but I believe it to be true. This happened for your good, for our good. I believe that. I believe that with all my heart. So that’s how I can be sure that you will be fine when you see the tribe, because we are happy now and we are a family again instead of two people who share a bed and a child. This madness fixed our life. It wouldn’t tear it apart at this point.” stated Fae with solid, clearly unshakable conviction.

Melanie sat there a bit slack jawed, stunned at what her wife had just said. She blinked a few times in disbelief, trying to process what she had just heard. “You… you believe all of that??”

“Every word.”

“Was it really that bad?” Melanie all but whispered, shame coloring her words.

“It was getting there. You were distant and I was getting distant and we had stopped really trying to bridge the gap. We weren’t working on our marriage anymore. I can’t believe how complacent we had both become. I am not blaming you; I am blaming both of us because we both were failing. This… miracle… did what counseling probably couldn’t, shoved our feelings for each other right in our faces so we couldn’t look away. I almost lost you, twice because of this transformation. That scared me so much. I… I couldn’t bear to lose you.” She ended on a whisper.

“I love you Fae. Very much.” Melanie was tearing up, as this was making her heart ache with the distance. She very much wanted to hug and kiss her wife right now but it was impossible and that made her sad.

“Good. Now stop worrying about stupid things and start worrying about things that matter, like covering them from both FUNCI and National Geographic. That’s important.” Fae glared at her with mock sternness, wagging a finger at her.

With a laugh, Melanie grinned and said, “Yes dear.”

Fae stuck her tongue out and they both laughed, dispelling the heavier mood that had settled. “I gotta go love. Tell Deborah hi for me and you get some rest. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Okay love.” After blowing kisses at each other, Melanie severed the connection and sat back. Maybe it would be okay. Fae’s logic was pretty strong and there was no arguing with her. Perhaps it really would be alright in the end. It was something to hope for at any rate.

Deborah’s voice called out from the other room, “You done in there?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Melanie stood and headed into the other room. Deborah had another drink ready for her and held it out for her. Melanie grinned happily and took it. Maybe a little more happy making booze would soothe the soul after that call?

“Good call?”

“Yeah, for the most part. Fae calmed me down and gave me a good reason not to worry about things.”

Deborah chuckled about that. “That’s good. Tense around natives is never a good plan. Never know how they are going to read that. Now, you think your kids are ready for all of this?”

“The only one who was ever in question was Maggie. What do you think of her language skills?”

“After a week with the Matse she should be fine. You have some good kids and they have really worked hard. You have seriously built up your little section of your department Melanie. I have heard a lot of good chatter about you from the international circles on your papers on the Mother’s Children. That and your earlier work down here has gotten you some notice in some high places.” commented Deborah.

“What do you mean?” asked Melanie with some worry.

Deborah sat forward, fixing her eyes to Melanie’s. “I didn’t want to worry you earlier, but I have gotten even more contacts lately about you.”

“From who?” This was not sounding good and was beginning to really worry Melanie. Who in the hell could be nosing around the tribe now and for what reason? What crap did she have to deal with now?

“The Brazilian government and not just FUNCI.”

Melanie sat back, eyes wide in surprise, blinking a few times trying to process all of this. “But… hunh… wha… why?”

“Remember aboriginal rights are a big thing here as they restrict things like road building, deforestation, and the like. Your tribe sits in an area that might prove to be of interest at some point. You are the lead researcher and apparently, the one the tribe wants to deal with, not FUNCI. I heard that Roberto tried to talk with the tribe alone but was not successful and was asked, did I think that you would be amenable to working with the government in this situation.” explained Deborah, trying to clarify entire situation she had been faced with.

Melanie grumbled some, cursing a little under her breath, “I guess it all depends on what the government wants from the tribe. I mean we don’t really know anything about them, at least not enough to get into a bargaining situation over land they might not even see as their own but which they should be allowed to use. Crap, I’m just a fucking scientist not a god damned politician! This is the sort of crap I hate. Fuck.”

Nodding in commiseration, Deborah said, “I know but think of it this way, you can try to be their voice in a system that really does not speak for them. I mean look at what happens to the Yanomano and the Matse and others. It is sad. While they are cared for they really did get restricted and boxed in. This is what happens anytime a primitive tribe encounters modern man. We run over them, destroying their way of life and culture without any care or concern. Even the presence of scientists changes the culture forever because our clothes and technology are so very different and it makes them wonder why.”

“Preaching to the choir. I guess it might be for the best of everyone concerned if I do speak for them but I will feel so out of place. I mean, that’s not what I was trained for, it’s not what I know how to do. I know how to figure out how a culture works, to explain it and make sense of its inner workings. Telling politicians what to do or not do seems completely foreign to me.”

“What if all you have to do is teach them about the tribe, tell them about what makes them special, what makes them worth protecting, why they are different. I mean you already have signs to that effect as they are a non-warlike tribe. That is mostly unheard of in the Amazon. There are surely other things that make them special. Figure that out and then when you talk to the government you just need to make these things clear. Tell the tribes story.” explained Deborah. She then grinned mischievously and said, “Think of the politicians as really slow undergrads.”

Melanie started laughing and kept laughing for a while.