Chapter Text
2151:
January 2nd:
If she was truly going to be honest with herself, she doesn’t really remember much after her first steps onto Pandora. She doesn’t remember the walk she took down the metal ramp of the ship that had carried her to the planet’s surface. She doesn’t remember her first day’s safety briefing, and she really, truly, doesn’t remember her first meeting with Dr. Grace Augustine—at least, not anymore. However, she can assume it was a pokey situation, since she was, after all, not a scientist. She just happened to be a very, very, lucky network engineer.
She’d gotten contracted by the RDA right out of college. She was just barely twenty years of age when she got that call in the middle of a normal work day; the call that told her she was to board a rocket bound for a completely different world in less than three months. It was the call that said her life was about to start all over again, on a new world, with a brand-new body, and a very good paycheck.
The RDA had picked her over so many eligible applicants, finding that she was not only still young, but well studied, and covered in all sorts of certs and clearances—plus she’d been born into a household of United States Marines. She seemed to be the perfect fit for their agenda, and in a show of their goodwill, and of their understanding of the expansive wiring situation at Hell’s Gate, she was given a permit for an avatar body.
So she may not remember much of what Pandora was first like through her imperfect human eyes, but she does remember— very well, by the way—what it looked like through her avatar’s eyes. Oh, does she remember that . It was a big, bright, and beautiful day, and she was so tall now—she just had to giggle at the gaggle of scientists that cautiously walked her out of the quarantined therapy unit and into the sunlight. Their gloved hands were a steady constant on her hips and wrists as they guided her out into the air that was noxious to her human lungs—exo-packs on—unconscious in thirty seconds, dead in four minutes; let’s nobody be dead today, looks very bad on reports.
She took a deep breath in, inhaling the scent of sweet wind and damp soil. As she breathed, she found that she could just as easily taste the air too, and she scrunched her face when the man-made pollution finally touched her tongue.
She’d soon dug the toe of her boot into the dirt underfoot, relishing in the rubber dulled sense after six long years of unconscious space travel—and they watched her with their little notepads ready. The panic began when she decided to start running—there was some yelling, commands for her to stop, that she wasn’t ready, and then there weren't any more voices as she flew through the walled compound. She flew over the basketball court, tearing through the rows in the garden, large hands held out to brush the plants as she went past.
She’d waited so long for this—didn’t know she was waiting for this, this right here. This was her new body; one that didn’t have the hyperextended elbow she’d gotten from her cousin when she was fifteen and playing a stupid game of tag. It didn’t have the right knee with its torn ligament. The knee that liked to act up right before rainstorms in the Florida “winter”, the same one she’d fatally damaged in combat training when she was a sophomore in high school. This new body of hers also didn’t have the ankle she’d so gracefully jammed after jumping off of a shed that was just a little too high during a game of midnight manhunt, six months after she’d turned nineteen, when she was still very dumb.
No, this new body had no restrictions, no hang-ups, and for the first time in a very long time, she just decided to run. She relished in the smoothness of her knee, the way her lungs filled with air, and how hard her heels actually hit the ground as she pushed herself, seeing just exactly what she could do now. And then she remembered how much she hated to run, and ran more until her muscles screamed.
2154,
Three months after the fall of the RDA:
She, and the other avatar drivers had done a number on this place. After all, they’d had to get out of the caged hut somehow—they weren’t just going to sit around and wait anymore. She didn’t blame them, really, but she just wished they hadn’t been this rough on every single one of its crucial metal hinges. She was already getting tired of welding and soldering things back together just so that they had a safe place to put their secondary bodies again.
Sometimes, being the practical one really sucked.
Her tail flickered back and forth behind her, a welding mask covering her face as she repaired the lower seam of the door’s slide track. She leaned over her work; her knees spread wide for balance as she slowly pulled the tip of the welding wand along the metal that desperately needed some TLC.
When she’d finally moved too far away, she blindly reached out and caught a hold of the bulk of the buzzing machine, pulling it towards her over the wooden flooring as she returned to her work. After another few seconds of pure, serotonin fueled hyper-focus, she suddenly noticed a familiar sensation. The featherlight touch gently trailed along the back of her shoulders, and over the cloth of her long-sleeved “jungle” shirt. It made her falter, but she ultimately ignored it and continued welding.
Life had actually become splendidly, frighteningly peaceful on the planet of Pandora. The Omaticaya clan had graciously allowed the avatar drivers and scientists to continue to inhabit Hell’s Gate; and so they, as allies, resided alongside the Na’vi people with mutualistic ease. Life was good.
She sat up, lifted her welding mask off her face, and blew out a hot puff of air. Her tail swayed at a slower pace in satisfaction of completion. She’d finished off the seam she’d so meticulously worked on. It certainly wasn’t perfect, and would definitely need to be sanded down a bit—maybe buffed out—but it would hold strong enough.
She rocked back to sit on her heels, joints protesting from the taxing kneeling position she’d held herself in for so long. Her long fingers reached back over and flicked the welding machine off, and she thoroughly enjoyed the silence that ensued. It didn’t seem to matter how quiet a sound was, it always began to drive absolutely crazy after some point in time—the sound of a running router fan was a perfect example—however, she needed sound to sleep…how hypocritical, right?
She dropped the wand and shifted back to sit on her ass the way the good Lord had intended her to sit—even if she wasn’t on his planet. She groaned and pulled the dark plastic mask off of her head completely, thankful the day was windy and mildly cool. Wiping some sweat off her forehead, she sighed in satisfaction, and leaned back on her hands with her face tilted towards the sky. After a while, she glanced down at her cyan skin. At the dark stripes that carefully sliced through the lighter color; and even at the very faint, white freckles that dotted her entire body. She had found that, from the moment she opened her eyes for the first time, she adored this second form and that it could do for her—she really liked being tall too, though.
That familiar feeling came to rest in her hair, capturing her attention. Reaching up, she gently guides the visiting atokirina’ down to eye-level. She greeted it in a friendly manner and offered it a place to sit on her knee. This had begun happening lately, like it had before the school shut down, in the days when she had played with the Na’vi children. She admired it, knowing it had probably been floating around in the air for a while as it patiently waited for her undivided attention. Using a finger, she gently spun it in a circle, enjoying the way in which it twirled slowly.
Suddenly her ears flicked back to focus on the world behind; she caught new sounds, her moment of peace shattered. Someone was walking up to her, and by the length and time between their footfalls, it was another avatar driver. She opened her mouth to say something. To grumble as she turned to glance over her shoulder, but the bitterness evaporated from her tongue the moment eye contact was made.
Her legs scrambled to pick the rest of her body up. Trying to make herself stand because she was already moving to jump off of the porch of the hut, her bare feet completely ignoring the three little steps. She flung herself at the man, arms wide as she wrapped them around his broad shoulders and held him close.
There was only a second of pause as he faltered and then returned the affectionate display. He picked her up and twirled her a little, squeezing her as she hugged him. After a while, he set her down, and she pulled away to promptly smack him on the forehead—then she greeted him with words.
“Jesus Christ, Sully.” She began with a laugh and a small push to his shoulder—she carefully adjusted a reddish feather that hung from the broad ornament wrapped around his neck, stating his clan rank. “Just what the hell is Olo’eyktan doing here?” She asked, grinning. The marine returned a smirk, his nose scrunching up as he bared his sharp teeth at her playfully.
“I’m here, wondering what the hell you’re doing.” Jake said with a familiar smile to his voice. She shoved at his shoulder again, harder this time, still knowing that what he’d said was anything but the truth.
“I,” she motioned to herself, and then to the hut behind her. “Am trying to fix the mess we made. Hopefully the lab coats will finally shut up about the state of the avatar’s quarters.” There was another pause between them as she watched him with slowly rising eyebrows.
“You can weld?” He sounded mildly impressed, and she feigned an offended expression.
“Look here jarhead,” Her first two fingers pointed from her eyes to his quickly. “I am a lady of many hidden talents and skills.” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and crossed her arms over her chest defensively, chin raised. Jake pursed his lips at her, his nose tweaking to the left slightly as he seemed to contemplate what she’d said. He glanced over her shoulder, trying to spy at the work she’d just completed, and she moved to block him.
“Seam looks a little wobbly to me.” He said just to piss her off, and it worked. She immediately smacked his arm, the sound it made was nearly as loud as her chiding him to shut up right this instant .
After a couple minutes of even meaner picking banter, and what was probably to be considered their good-natured horseplay, did she chance at asking him again:
“But seriously, Jake, what are you doing here?” She paused after she said that, deciding that it sounded really kinda bad. “It’s not that the clan isn’t welcome—of course you are—it’s just that we haven’t seen…” She was motioning to all of him now and he swiftly finished the sentence for her, his lips quirking up once more.
“Me?” Jake offered, and she nodded.
“Yeah, you, in like, a couple of months .” Her nose scrunched at her own slightly bitter words. “Is everything okay?” She suddenly must have sounded concerned, looked concerned—she knew she was staring at him in the manner that probably told him that she was indeed, very concerned. Her tail flicked back and forth behind her, in a hasty, nervous manner while Jake’s remained slow and calm, curling and then uncurling beside his legs oh-so lazily. Boy, did she wish she possessed his sense of security—she’d lost hers a long time ago, and desperately wanted it back.
“Everything’s fine, Kate.” He tilted his head to the left, another familiar Jake Sully Brand™ smirk on his lips as he watched her with forward facing ears. “What’s got you so worked up anyway?” She huffed out a harsh breath, her head tossing to the side as her own ears tucked back into her hair with embarrassment.
“Can I not be worried Jake?” She paused and shifted her weight onto her other leg, tail beginning to droop just a little bit. “We haven’t seen you in a long time, I got worried. You’re a friend after all.” She clicked her teeth together in a mockingly dismissive manner. When he inhaled to speak, but said nothing, but said nothing, she cast her eyes back towards him. He was staring, but not at her. His eyes were focused on an invisible point just above her head. Jake's mouth slowly began to close, and he hadn’t blinked yet, eyes almost wide.
“Jake?” She felt her forehead wrinkle with confusion as she watched him shift one foot back slightly. He motioned up, his long fingers wiggling over the crown of his own head in a silent, earthly form of communication that meant something, that was not supposed to be there, was in her hair. A flash of a thought skittered through her mind—she hoped to God it was not a bug. She reached up, fingertips coming into contact with something strange, and in a mildly panicked reaction, glanced up.
The atokirina’ from before lightly tickled the skin of her face as it floated calmly above her eyes with gentle motions. She sighed in relief, smiled, and cupped the little Seed of the Sacred Tree, bringing it back down. Jake made a small noise in the back of his throat as she guided it into the palm of her hand.
As soon as she straightened her position, she cooed at the seed fondly, gently twirling it with a careful finger. “Was I not giving you enough attention? I’m sorry my friend.” The marine moved a step closer to her, tentatively leaning in to see. She opened her palm wider as the atokirina’ settled in, seemingly content.
“I’ve never seen one here.” She glanced up at Jake when he spoke in an uncharacteristically hushed tone.
“Really?” She asked, eyes flickering back down. Calm flooded her as she reached out with her middle finger to carefully stroke one of its floating limbs. “There’s usually at least one with me when I’m outside like this.”
“What?” His head snapped up.
“Yeah.” Her voice began to sound dreamy and far off to even her as she brought her atokirina’ claimed palm back up to her face so that she could study the sacred seed. It took her a long moment to remember Jake, but when she did, she dropped her hand back down, and stared at him quizzically. “I thought you knew. Everyone else does.”
“How many times?” He moved closer again, and it suddenly felt less like a friendly chat between friends, and more like a minor interrogation between…friends. She stuttered a bit as she tried to remember the last time it had happened.
“A,ah, I don’t know? I’ve got fieldwork photographs where I’m almost covered in them.” She paused. “Grace said that I must smell nice to them or something…” She trailed off and Jake was suddenly grinning in her face, hands already gently pulling at her elbows. She mindlessly begins to follow him for a few steps, staring stupidly—no thoughts, head empty.
“I know some people that would find that incredibly interesting back home.” He said, still guiding her away from the avatar hut.
“Back home?” She was walking where he was leading, and then she noticed, and stopped. She’d dug her bare heels into the dirt beneath them, jerking away. “You mean the clan.” She was backing up then, slipping out of his grasp, her head shaking and her tail curling with rediscovered nerves.
“Well, yeah?” He watched her with a suddenly wavering smile. “You were the one that said you wanted to formally meet them back on the tarmac, weren't you?” She shuffled her feet then, hand still cupped around the floating seed of the sacred tree. She swallowed thickly.
“Of course,” Her voice was too soft as she stared down, hoping the atokirina’ would distract her—maybe give her courage. “It’s just, not all at once.” Jake laughed at her for a long time, and when he could look at her again, he started to laugh all over again because of the upset expression she’d given him.
“That’s the only way.”
“That’s crap.” She grumbled. The marine opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “How do we know this isn’t just a fluke?” His face scrunched in disbelief.
“Seriously, Kate?” He said. “You’re gonna doubt me now ?”
Good point. Fuck you, though, Sully.
“I mean, it hasn’t happened in a long time, and—” Jake placed his hand on her shoulder, effectively halting the oncoming babble.
“Kate,” He smiled. “Someone once told me to, and I quote: settle in and enjoy the ride, the forest knows what it wants, dumbass .”
She frowned. “I said that.”
“Exactly. Now,” He took a step back. “Get one of the pilots that’s still here to fly you out. There’s this place that you really should see.”