Just seen the movie and fell sooo in love with it - just a thought how the scene could have ended - probably to be continued.
Disclaimer - I don´t own any of the characters of Avatar.
Please review.
author´s note - 01/17/2010 - alright, here we go! Some of my readers (thanks to you, guys!) pointed out to me that Jake appears more the whiny guy, that was at least people´s comment to the first chapter. That surprised me, as it wasn´t what I had wanted to point out or describe. So I decided to change some details here to try and make clearer what I wanted to express in the first place - that is that I in fact saw that he´s a warrior at the heart (thanks to James Cameron for that helpful description of the character!) - but I still think he was meant to be enough down to earth to see the problems explaining to the united Na´vi tribes that their hero is the disabled guy in the wheelchair - I mean, that´s actually crucial for the whole story, the avatar enabling him to things he would otherwise probably never have been able to do and achieve again. I hope it worked! Thanks for the support !!
"I see you", he whispered, reaching out to touch her face.
"I see you", she whispered back.
She looked down at his face, the dreamwalker´s face – strange in a way and still so familiar. Human, but still…
She had known that there was another body. That his soul belonged to another shell. Though the humans looked small and clumsy to her, she had sometimes wondered what his real body might look like. If his skin was pale or dark, his hair light or dark. Still, she had never really been able to imagine his human appearance.
He slowly relaxed, the mask delivering the air the humans needed. She knew that they couldn´t breath Pandora´s air. She knew that he had almost died.
"Thank God you are alive", he said.
She frowned for a moment, her ears twisting in a nervous move.
"What about Quaritch ?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
She lowered her head a little. "He is dead."
His hand had dropped from her face down to her forearm. She could feel the light and warm touch there.
"Condemn me for it, but thank God for that, too", he whispered.
Exhausted by the physical shock and the mental strain, he closed his eyes. It felt strange, hopping from one body to another, and though he had returned to a body that had rested for days by now, he could still feel the adrenaline and the pain. Grace would have told him that he only remembered the feeling – but it didn´t make him feel any better right now. Besides that, rest alone wasn´t enough – his human body needed other things in addition. Like food and water.
And a shower, he added silently.
Neytiri, feeling equally strained and tired, took the chance to study his body while he didn´t watch.
Jake realized how much stronger than him she really was. Not stronger than his Na´vi body – but so much stronger and taller than the small human being. She had saved his life, again. In another situation, he might simply have felt small and pathetic - but right now, her touch felt just right – and he felt safe.
The moment he opened his eyes again, hers had returned to his face.
"We should go", she suggested lowly. "The others will gather." She glimpsed at the strange looking equipment around her.
"I can´t come with you", he told her.
Her eyes widened at his words.
"He damaged…the machine ?" she asked. The words sounded strange out of her mouth.
He nodded. "There are others at the headquarters", he said. Hopefully, they still were, he prayed - and people left who would be able to get them working as well. But for now, even if the lab hadn´t been sabotaged or otherwise damaged, the place was just too far away.
At least for a disabled marine.
"I will send a message to the others. Then we´ll wait for help", she told him.
"You are their leader, Neytiri. Go. Just hand me a weapon and…."
"It wasn't a suggestion", she interrupted him, her tone calm, but firm. "And you are their leader as well."
All of a sudden, he felt bitter and desperate. Quaritch had brought him back to reality brutally – and there was no way to avoid facing it. You had to wake up in the end.
"Look at me", he said lowly. "And tell me again I am their leader." There was no bitterness in his voice - only the light frustration of somebody talking about facts and a tired grin. A grin so similar to the one she knew.
To his amazement, she did like he had told her. Seconds passed. He had wished to avoid this happening, ever since and never more than right now. Too much stuff he wouldn´t know how to explain. Besides, there were other to be done right now.
Her huge amber coloured eyes returned again to his face while she helped him into a sitting position.
"Like I told you", she said. "I see you."
She got up to leave and send a message to her people. Their people. Then she turned to him on her way out.
"As you should know by now", she added.