Final Gestures

Author's note: I came up with this when I was laying in my bed, thinking why I am stuck in a world I hate. But the very idea of this just popped in my mind.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. James Cameron does. All I have is my pen and little notebook wherein I write every story that my imagination creates, no matter how it sucks.

Summary: Sometimes in the shadows of hatred, love can be seen. Pre-film.

It had been years.

Three long years had passed since he promised himself that he would take revenge. That he will also take away something precious from them, just like how they took one from him too. That precious thing that he had, the one true thing that he'd ever adored and loved in his life.

All gone.

He tried to forget her; he tried not to love her. He tried to get rid of her, but it was as if destiny was mocking him and kept them always crossing their paths. At night, he would dream of her, of those times when they were still in each other's arms, happy and undisturbed. But at some point in the middle of his dream, an image of a little blue girl would appear, eyeing him with those cat-like eyes, as she was bleeding to death. He turned to the woman in his arms, whose eyes were full of tears and hatred. It hurts to look at her that way, the one he loves, in pain and sadness, trying to get loose from his tight grip.

And eventually, he let her go, and she moved to the bleeding little girl lying on the soil. "Sylwanin! No!"

Usually, his dreams just end there. And then he would wake up feeling sweaty and thirsty, eventually feeling the need to go to the kitchen and drink some water.

The way to the kitchen was entwined with the way to the Science Department. Late at night he would sneak into it, just to see the woman he loves working so hard she hardly even noticed he was standing by the door.

Miles Quaritch knows that he loves Grace Augustine still. That after three years, he still longed for her, and his body ached to touch her. Those red curls.. The fiery eyes.. He missed them so much he almost cried while thinking of them.

He sat up to his bed and peeped at the clock. It's 0100. He knows Grace is still in the lab, working late as usual.

Quaritch stood up and made his way to the lab. With nothing but a pair of boxers and white top, he felt cold. But once he saw her, all the coldness of his body began to vanish, replacing them with burning fire-like desire. He walked his way to her and stopped when he was only a few feet far from the Redhead. "Grace," he muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for her to notice that he was there.

"Oh, Colonel," Grace replied, her head not even turning to look at her visitor. She knew him by his manly voice. "What's up?"

That's it? What's up?

"Haven't seen you in a while, eh?" She continued, still not turning her back.

Yeah… Because I've been avoiding you for so long…

"Yeah," Quaritch scratched his head as he looked at her back, from toe to her hair. He stopped his gaze on her hair and realized that her usual long and curly hair, was now cut short, making her a little unrecognizable to him. But still he could tell her hair color from afar.

"So, how was life, Colonel?" Grace couldn't think of anything to say. She just want to get the hell out of there and go to her quarters as fast as she can.

Not really good… Not unless you come back to me, I guess I'd be happy.

"Doin' good… Really good," Miles sighed. If only he could tell her what he really feels inside.

Grace's smile was bitter. Yes, she wants him to be happy. That would be the best thing she would ever want to happen to him.

She blinked and cleared her throat, trying to hold back the tears from falling. She never knew that talking to him again after three long years would bring happiness and at the same time, pain to herself. They crossed paths in more than one occasion, but they never really talked.

When Quaritch noticed the sudden silence that engulfed them, he realized that maybe, it is time to make a move, to set things right, back to how it used to be.

Slowly but surely he moved closer to her. And in just a few heartbeats, he was already at her back. He moved his head forward, over her shoulder, very near to her right ear. He began sniffing her hair and was mesmerized by how good she smelled even after a full day of work. Lavender…

Grace just closed her eyes and gulped. Here he was, sniffing her hair, very near as she thought he could be. And darn, she could feel the heat flowing from his body.

He placed a kiss on her earlobe, and then another on her neck which left her body tingling. Quaritch gently caressed her shoulders, sliding his hands up and down her arms while still placing soft kisses on her neck.

"I want you, now." He whispered in her ear.

Grace felt a sudden arousal throbbing her whole being. She wanted to protest, but all she did was to close her eyes and let his hand wander through her body.

Quaritch just continued kissing her neck, and goddammit, even he, found it so pleasurable to just stand there while kissing her jaw line and throat and at the same time caressing her body with his hands. Slowly, he let his hands wander inside her blouse.

He lifted her bra and cupped her breasts, toying with her nipples.

"Miles..." She moaned his name softly.

"Uhmmm…?"

Grace turned to look at him, her brown eyes cloudy with passion.

"Take me, please." She said.

Quaritch raised his eyebrow, looking a little bit confused. 'What does she mean?'

"Where?" He asked with such an endearing softness which sounded not so like him.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"You don't get it," She whispered.

"Yeah. I always don't get anything you say." Miles Quaritch chuckled for the first time in years, making her smile a little bit.

Grace doesn't even know what she was doing anymore. He wants her, and she wants him too. So why not give him that?

But whether this was just a sudden arousal or it meant something more when he said that he wants her, she doesn't really know.

Just a few minutes later, they were already in his room. Grace lied down his bed with Quaritch on top of her, his blue eyes were fixed on her face. He smiled which almost melted her heart, and then leaned down to kiss her lips, her nose, her cheeks..

And finally, her forehead. She loved it when he do that to her back then..

Slowly, Miles Quaritch unbuttoned her blouse, took her bra off from Grace and finally took his tank top as well. God, that muscular body hunted her almost every night, and now she is finally seeing it again.

Miles just threw their clothes down the floor, and when he placed himself on top of her body again, this time with nothing on, they both felt the heat of each other's bodies, longing and aching for that contact, trying to rebuild the bridge that once connected them.

He began kissing her lips again, gently, softly, and that surprised her. Back then, he was so harsh. He wanted to do it fast,

He moved to her neck, to her shoulder… And finally to her breasts. He sucked her down with gentleness that she thinks only paradise and the Garden of Eden would create.

When she ran her fingers on his hair, he knows he's pleasing her.

"I'm sorry," suddenly, Quaritch stopped from what he's doing and looked at Grace for a while. Then he smiled.

And then she looked back to him.

"I couldn't do this. Not when I do not deserve to do so." he breathed. "I only did this because… It was just a sudden arousal, Grace, nothing more, nothing less."

Grace sat up his bed, covering her breasts which were freely exposed to his eyes. "W-What?"

"Look I'll make it easy on you, okay? I just wanted to know if my feelings for you are gone, three years after we raid your school and shot one of your students," he sighed.

His very words brought that itching pain in her heart. How she remembered that day… They were just having that pretty normal school class, when one of her students; Neytiri, shouted that they are being attacked by the tawtute. And then Quaritch bursted in the door, his exopack cloudy of his mint breath, rifle pointed to her.

"And now, I realized that I'm really over you. When I was kissing you," he looked over to her delicate lips. "Nothing happened and I felt nothing but the arousal that I can easily get from anybody else." He finished, still trying to sound formal despite the fact that deep inside, he's dying.

"Okay," Grace replied her face hard as stone. She roused to pick her clothes which were scattered on the floor.

Okay? Was that it?

"You know I really thought we could play this little game yours. Having sex during our spare time to satisfy our needs? Stuffs like that? Friends with benefits? Oh yeah, but we're not friends, and we're not enemies either, I could say. How can we call that then?" She grinned like she wasn't affected at all.

"Just get dressed and leave. You're not worth my time at all." Quaritch's jaws we're tight when he said that. He doesn't really know why, but he begins to hate her now.

"Alright." She said as she get dressed. As soon as she finished, she reached for the door. "Goodnight, Quaritch. I really had fun playing games with you tonight." She closed the door and managed to get off his sight.

Miles Quaritch was left devastated in his room.

He's a brave man. Never had he backed out from a mission. But when it comes to love… He's a coward. He doesn't have to courage to tell her what he really felt inside. How he remembered the first time he met Grace, of that stupidity he showed when he was trying to impress and win her feelings. But because he's a moron jarhead, his plans to impress the wonderful nymph failed, ending up like a helpless man infront of a very lovely and intelligent woman.

Until now, it is still a mystery why she fell for him.

But what he did tonight is just another way to know how stupid he is when it comes to romance. He damn well knows that it was his fault. 'What a moron I am…'

Grace ran as fast as she can right after she closed the door of Quaritch's room. She sobbed while she ran and her eyes finally lost all the might to hold back her tears from falling. The moment she got in quarters, she shut the door, locking it.

And then she fell to her knees.

He doesn't love her anymore. But she still does, given that he had killed a lot of innocent people who are very dear to her. She still loves him. And she now curses herself for that.

She must now learn how to not fall to his damn tricks. She must hate him. He'd hurt her twice, and she'll never let him hurt her again.

That's it! Please Review! Also, check out my other work; In Between Love and Hate (Quar'N'Tine) 3 – EyeCandy16