We're in double figures now :D

As soon as Kate entered her Avatar she felt at peace with the world. The forest was alive around her, the sounds of animals merging with the sound of the wind. The silky hammock felt warm on her skin and the air was fresh with a new day.

Looking out from the hammock at the forest below her, it seemed serene and peaceful. Everything in touch with nature and nature looking over everything. Eywa watching over everything.

Kate stretched and saw Dia on the branch above her. He smiled.

'Good morning.' He grinned.

'You know you've already said that to me today.' Kate replied.

'Yeah, well, good morning Avatar Kate.'

She smiled.

'What, not Na'vi Kate?'

'Nah, you've got ten fingers, I've got nine, so technically, I'm more of a Na'vi!'

Kate made a show of rolling her eyes.

'You gonna leave a girl stranded or are you gonna help me up?'

Dia held out a hand. Kate grabbed his wrist.

'Aha,' Diablo said, pulling her onto the branch. 'Wrist's stronger than a hand. Smart.'

'Was that a compliment?'

'Not at all.'

Kate nodded before realizing they were still holding wrists. She pulled away quickly.

'So, what are we going to do?' She said awkwardly.

'We've got the day free, right?' Dia replied.

'Yeah, of course. Um…' Kate wandered into the Hometree, not finished her sentence.

Kate and Dia descended the spiral and went outside. The Na'vi weren't evading them now Mo'at had let them into the clan. Ilyana spotted them and waved them over.

'Kate! You must come and see, Miniri had a baby!'

Dia, noticing Ilyana was treating them like they were her best friends, shrugged at Kate. They walked over to see a group of Na'vi.

In the middle was a woman that looked the same age as Neytiri. Kate let out an ah-h-h when she looked down and saw the small blue bundle in her arms. It was the cutest thing she's ever seen. It was remarkably like a human baby apart from its shock of hair.

'She was born a few weeks ago,' Ilyana smiled. 'She is called Ney`ite.'

Kate marveled at the wonder of life. Before she knew it she'd opened her mouth.

'Can I hold her?' she blurted out.

The mother smiled and seemed to contemplate it before nodding. Slowly and carefully, she transferred the baby into Kate's arms.

'Kaltxi.' She said, about the extent of her Na'vi.

She sat down, looking into the baby's eyes. She looked intelligent, her pupils darting around before resting on Kate's. She felt so warm and small and… amazing. Kate slowly rocked her, whispering sweet nothings. The Na'vi watched her as she held the baby close and spoke to it, never looking away from Ney'ite.

Before she knew it, Dia's hand was on her shoulder, and he spoke to her in a tender voice that she hadn't heard before.

'Kate, don't you think you should give her back to her mother?' Kate didn't look up and suddenly Ellie was being taken from her arms…

She gasped, tears forming at the edge of her eyes.

'I, I'm…' She ran off. Dia gave her some time before walking over to Kate.

She was sat on a bed of leaves in a clearing, picking the leaves up and ripping them. The leaves hung low from the branches and Dia was reminded of a willow tree. He thought he could see her crying.

He sat down in front of her and tilted his head to try and look into her eyes. She was looking at the ground, her hair dangling in front of her face.

'Kate…' he whispered.

She didn't respond.

'Do you want to talk about this?' Those words seemed to make her cry more. They waited together, neither of them saying a thing. Feeling useless and now knowing what else to do, Dia shuffled towards her and awkwardly put his arms around her.

Then she stopped trying to hold back tears and let them out. She put her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Dia, his chest wet with tears, whispered it's okay repeatedly into her ear. Rocking her slowly, he continued to whisper, now settling for a quiet shh.

The tears flowed until her eyes seemed to dry up; Kate kept her arms around Dia and Dia kept her arms around Kate.

Slowly, Kate pulled away, now embarrassed. She wiped her eyes and sniffed before looking Dia in the eye. She tried to think of something to say but only managed a

'Sorry.'

Dia shook his head, his face grave.

'Don't be.'

'Promise not to tell?'

'Promise.'

Max Patel knocked on Matt's door before walking in. He'd become isolated again. It had looked like he'd been making a recovery, then he'd disappeared into his room and hadn't come out. Max was worried about the poor guy. Feeling that much pain, then…

Matt was gone.

'Matt?' Max called. He walked out of the room. 'Matt?'

He asked around to see if anyone had seen him around. They hadn't.

Max looked in the biolab, the linking room, and the administration room: he was nowhere to be found. Max, becoming increasingly worried, walked up to a computer next to decontamination, the doors that led outside. He touched the file marked 'logs'.

Even though he was nowhere else, Max found it hard to believe that he'd exited Hells Gate. He scanned through the logs, one catching his eye.

ID#001293 Logged: 23:57 21/03/2160

Still not believing it, Max clicked on the ID. Matt's face appeared on the screen.

'Guys?' He said to anyone around him.

'Matt's been gone for two days.'

Sorry for the short one here guys, I just thought it flowed better on it's own, and I like ending a chapter on a cliffhanger :D