As the sun was starting to rise I make my way slowly and quietly over to the Tree of Souls, and the small group of my friends, thankfully they hadn't seen me yet and as I get closer I try to see Grace's bodies behind them but I realize the third body laying next to hers was my own human body, battered and bruised, my leg wound wrapped in blood covered bandages and to my surprise there was a necklace of beads around my neck almost as a sign of respect, I look to the small group around the bodies, I take a quiet breath in before softly clearing my throat nervously, all of my fears and anxieties showing their heads now at the worst time.

Mo'at is the first to turn around only for her to gasp and gently touch Neytiri's arm, the rest turn and Jake nearly jumps back in shock at seeing me, Neytiri smiles widely and rushes forward, tackling me in a hug suddenly, I laugh and hug her back happily before she returns to Jakes side, I step up onto the rocks they're on and Jake punches my arm, I hiss a bit in pain and punch his arm back "sorry..I just had to make sure you were real" He exclaims before hugging me as well, I giggle and hug him back "I'm as real as Eywa herself" I say as he pulls back, looking me over "but how? We found your body in the forest" he asks astonished, I smile more "I had died, my human body died, but Eywa brought me back, she said I have a Na'vi soul, that I was just born on the wrong planet and in the wrong body" I explain "But Eywa sent me back to help in this upcoming fight, to help protect my people" I state, completely determined, I smile as Mo'at looks me over amazed before I glance to Tsu'tey, he hadn't said a word since I walked over, he looked perplexed and like he was trying hard to hide his emotions, I smile a little at him softly before moving over to look at the body's sadly, my heart sinking seeing Grace, I kneel next to her and gently lay my hand over her arm softly "you can rest peacefully Grace. Norm, Jake and I will help protect this world" I murmur sadly before standing and looking to Jake "alright, how can I help? I have an Ikran now, so I can help in the battle" I say softly, nodding to her over near the wall. Jake looks to her then to me in surprise "you do...how? Has your queue been fixed?" He asks, I shake my head "sadly no, but I can still ride, I just have to be careful, and trust my Ikran to know what she is doing"

For the next few hours I help situate the clans, helping create temporary homes and beds for all of the new Na'vi pouring into the area, and as the sun starts to set I move to the makeshift kitchen type area, going to help make dinner for the massive amount of mouths that need feeding now. Once everyone had been fed I go to get some sleep near the tree of souls, knowing I'd be safe there, I make a small makeshift hammock along the wall near the back, my Ikran following me and laying down next to it as I fall asleep.

I'm falling through the trees, falling faster than I thought was possible until suddenly my Ikran flys up and catches me, we swerve between trees then up out of the trees only to see a huge explosion infront ofus, I scream as the smoke envelopes us before everything goes black...

The next morning I get up and Jake tells me to follow him and out of curiosity I do, following him up and away from the Tree of Souls and through the forest, and not long after we get out of sight of the camps we come into a small clearing with one of the pods of the small research station, I smile widely and rush to it happily, Trudy and Norm stepping out of the station with exo-packs on, I sit down cross legged infront of them happily as Norm comes closer in shock "you really are alive...? Jake said you were last night but we didn't believe him fully" he says, I nod and smile more "I am very much alive thanks to Eywa, she brought me back in my true body, to help in the coming fight" I exclaim and he laughs happily "just make sure we dont need to bury you a second time ok?" He says, I nod quickly and salute jokingly "Yes sir!" I giggle and stand, smirking a little and gently ruffling Norms hair "now who's the short one?" I joke as he slaps my hand away, I greet Trudy and we all talk for a few minutes before Jake remembers something "right! We're supposed to talk with Max in just a minute, he doesn't know your still alive" He exclaims, I smile at that "I cant fit in the pod remember?" Norm shakes his head "you dont need to, you can sit at them window and we can give you a headset so you can hear us" I nod at that and Jake lays his avatar down as the others head inside, Jake waking up in his human body inside and Norm returns with a neck communicator and ear piece for me, I put it on and sit down next to the pods window, looking inside and smiling as they set up the call, making sure I wouldn't be seen from the camera yet.

As the call connects I can hear Max greeting them and as they are saying hi I join in and Max pauses, looking confused before they smile and turn the camera around, I smile seeing his face and wave before pressing my fingers to the buttons on the necklace again "Hey Max, long time no see" He looks like hes gone into shock for a moment before nearly yelling but he catches him self "Rose! How the hell? But Jake said you died, I saw your body" He rambles, I smile and nod softly "I did die, my human body is dead, but Eywa has brought me back into this world to help in this coming war, she's given me another chance at life in this body" I explain and he smiles more, his colleagues behind him smiling a little at the news, he nods "good, we are going to need all the help we can get, I'm so glad your back" I nod again "as am I, now, lets hear what's going on" I say getting a little more serious now, knowing we didn't have long to talk with him, Norm moves the screen back towards them and Max explains that Quaritch had taken over and was getting everyone at the base ready to attack, loading up their gunships and how he's rigged the shuttle as a huge bomber with the huge pallets of mine explosives. My heart sinks as I listen, realizing just how bad this was now, I take a deep breath to try and calm down as Max says they'd be rolling out early the very next morning before someone alerts him that someone else was coming so he quickly signs off, I frown and lean against the wall of the pod a little, thinking for a few minutes before I look inside, pressing the buttons again on the necklace "I'm going back to inform the clans, then I need to help make more arrows and get the warriors ready for the huge fight ahead" I say and stand, waving at them inside and they wave back, Jake nodding in agreement before I run back to the Tree of Souls as fast as I could, once there I inform Mo'at what Quaritch was doing and that it would be safest to get the children, females and elderly, all but the warriors away from the Tree of Souls because we may not be able to stop the bombs but she refuses, saying it was the safest place for them, I sigh softly but agree before going to inform the warriors that the attack would be the next morning bright and early, then those warriors go through the camp telling everyone else to be ready.

Later that evening as I'm helping make as many arrows as we could Tsu'tey comes into sight and asks to speak with me alone, I agree and stand, following him a ways from the camp "you wanted to speak with me?" I ask softly but out of nowhere he suddenly turns and grabs my upper arms, looking serious and almost afraid "I do not want you to fight tomorrow" He says, I frown "what? No I have to, its the whole reason Eywa sent me back here" I argue, he shakes his head "No, I will not allow you to die!" He snaps, I stare at him in shock for a moment "Tsu'tey...I have to" I say softly, gently gripping his arms back "I will not allow it, you are not a warrior, you do not have the right" I frown more "Tsu'tey, that's not going to stop me, I have an Ikran, I have a bow, I am going to fight no matter what, and I wont let you stop me" I say determined, he tightens his grip on my arms, his tail flicking around and ears pressed back "No! I cannot let you, if you go out there tomorrow you will die! I cannot risk losing you" He snaps, I stare into his eyes dumbfounded "risk losing me...?" I murmur and he sighs shakily "Ive barely gotten to know you, but from the first moment I saw you, when you and Jakesully were being brought to the clan, I was intrigued, you were so different from the other sky people I have met, you can see as others cant...when I started to teach you my feelings only grew" he admits, I gently tighten my hold on his arms as well, my heart racing and stomach fluttering with butterfly's "I tried to ignore those feelings, I was promised to Neytiri...but she is with Jakesullly now, I do not have a mate chosen for me now, and when...when your body died I believed I had lost you forever as well...I prayed to Eywa, prayed you would be happy and safe with her, but she has brought you back to me, she has given me another chance" he explains, I meet his eyes and could see real emotion there, fear and heartbreak, but also hope "that is why I will not let you fight, I cannot risk losing you again"

My tail flicks around a little and without another word I lean up and kiss him, eyes closing and he tenses for a moment before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer, I wrap my arms around his neck gently, my heart feeling light as a feather, and as we pull away, panting softly I smile "and this is why I will join the fight, I have to make sure you make it home tomorrow" I whisper softly, leaning my forehead against his softly "I cannot lose you tomorrow either, so we fight together, watch each other's backs" I say softly, he smiles the first genuine smile I had seen on him only making my smile bigger "your people are far to stubborn" he mumbles, I giggle softly "your people are my people...Eywa told me so herself, when I died I met her, she told me my soul has always been Na'vi, I was simply born on the wrong planet and in the wrong body, this was always meant to be my true home" I say softly, he looks amazed at that "you spoke with the Great Mother?" I nod "I did, she told me it was not my time to die, and that I was to help win this war against the Sky People, to help take back our home and banish them from our world" I confirm, he pulls me into a hug, I hug him back tightly, closing my eyes comfortably, just enjoying being here with him now, but not soon after we are called back to the clans and I return to my duties, helping make more arrows and helping fix bows and other weapons.

As the night gets dark my worry's start to creep into my mind and my anxiety starts to get worse, as most everyone starts to go to sleep I cant sleep, pacing nervously infront of my hammock, my Ikran, Syulang was laying besides my hammock, watching me as I pace, but after some time I cant take it and I go to find Tsu'tey, knowing I'd sound like a child but I just needed someone near right now, I find his hammock and see he's still awake, finishing wrapping his bow handle, I approach nervously "tsu'tey...?" I murmur, my heart racing, glad most everyone around us was asleep and wouldn't hear us, he looks up curiously "Rose? What's wrong?" He asks softly, setting his bow down as he stands, I gently take his hands, trying to keep mine from shaking "I cant sleep...I...I wanted to ask if I could sleep beside you tonight...I know its not proper, we aren't mates yet...I understand if you say no, I just wanted to ask" I babble on a bit, keeping my head down "I...I'm afraid about tomorrow...and I'm afraid about having more dreams, I often have dreams that seem to tell the future...I dont want to have more dreams about tomorrow" I murmur, he pauses before gently pulling me into a hug, I hug him back tightly "we can share my hammock tonight" he murmurs and I relax a little, quietly thanking him before we both carefully climb into the hammock and I curl up against his side, falling asleep fast now, Tsu'tey smiles softly and falls asleep himself, both of us knowing tomorrow may kill us, but we both knew we couldn't stop it from coming.


Chapter 9 done!

What do you think? Will tomorrow only bring them death? Or will they both survive?

Also I'm sorry this took so long! Writers block is hitting hard!

Thank you all so much for the kind reviews from Stranger45 and Victoria! And thank you to all the new followers and favorites!

I love each and everyone one of you!

Know that you are loved and wanted! Also don't forget to drink some water!

~Rose~