🎐

He went to bed with a smile on his face that made Grace look at him with worry. She didn't know what that smile came from or what caused it. If what Jake told her before doing his dream hunt and how he came back told her anything, it was that she should be concerned something happened out there that made Jake return like this. He's hiding something and she knows it.

As the night went by, even if Jake was back in his human body, his hold on you was just as firm as when he was in his Avatar form. Thankfully, before the two of you fell asleep completely, you'd briefly separated to put your clothes back on. Jake got you dressed first. He didn't tear his eyes away from yours once, even as he helped put your top back on and your loincloth.

He'll never be able to understand how alluring your eyes are; he could truly get lost in them, stare at them for hours, and not complain once. He almost melted at how you tiredly clung to his shoulders as he dressed you again. His movements were so gentle that they were sending shivers up and down your spine, making you want to stay even closer to his body and never let him go.

After he'd dressed you and made sure you were comfortable again, he did the same to himself, putting on his holster you made him on his body again and his loincloth as well and the two of you laid on the ground yet again, not wasting a second to wrap your arms around each other, both of your legs intertwining, tails tangling together and bodies pressed so tightly against each other that they might fuse.

After that, sleep overtook the two of you, but not before you yawned tiredly as your nose scrunched adorably and cuddled more into Jake, tucking your face into his neck, making Jake's heart suddenly burst with love. He couldn't take it.

Before sleep overtook him, he threaded one of his hands into your hair and leaned forward to press a lingering kiss to your forehead, which was the last little touch you needed to feel safe to go to sleep at last. That was the last either of you remembers, at least until morning finally came around in the forest.

Once the sun started to rise over the horizon and the bioluminescence had dimmed, all that could be seen in the Tree of Voices was the light filtering through the tendrils as a gentle breeze brushed past them. It was still very early, which meant Pandora was waking up all over again.

There was soft animal chittering echoing through the trees, the morning warmth making you subconsciously move even closer to Jake as you began to stir, then briefly go back to sleep. You were so comfortable, content, and happy right where you were. In the arms of your mate, waking up together for the first time in this way after being bonded, and with a whole different meaning to it now, was a place you never wanted to leave.

It has only been one night, and you already knew you wanted to do it for the rest of your life, with him and no one else. Everything was just so good and well, and the serenity and peacefulness of the morning made you want to repeat this all over again, even when you've both passed on to live within Eywa. Jake's arm was lovingly draped tightly over your waist, holding you close even when he's not in his Avatar body, as if not even the link can tear you apart.

You were using his strong arm underneath your head as your pillow, and his head was on top of yours, with his cheek on top of your hair. You felt so safe in his arms, as if nothing could go wrong, and you could not wait for him to wake up, and the two of you could bask in each other's presence and enjoy the fact that last night you had both stopped putting your feelings aside and were finally mated. For life. In the eyes of Eywa. At last.

You truly felt complete now. Your braids were still connected, as well. It was part of the mating ritual to keep them joined until the next day to secure the bond as much as possible. In your head, nothing could ruin this moment.

But you couldn't be more wrong. Even though you wanted to continue living in bliss, you knew there was a clan and family waiting for you to return to Hometree with this news. You wanted to stay with Jake all day. You should have known that letting your guard down was the worst thing. You continued to stir in your sleep and tried to pass off the distant beeping as part of your dreams.

You were blinking in and out of sleep. You tried to ignore it and hoped it would go away. After a few seconds, you started to feel rumbling beneath you that shook the Earth. That was something you couldn't ignore. Your eyes snapped open, your ears went up, and your body went rigid as the ground started to rumble more. The air in your lungs evaporated in a second.

Your first instinct was to, unfortunately, leave Jake's hold and jump to your feet to see what was happening. Your heart drummed in your ears and beat against your chest as your expression became panicked. What was happening?

You were trying to look through the trees, but the tendrils were covering whatever was causing this. Your breaths were coming out choppy and fast as you felt your mouth go dry. Your eyes darted back and forth between Jake and what was causing the loud rumbling. You crouched on the ground and protectively covered his body with yours, shielding him, as you kept an eye out, but despite how brave you were trying to seem, the moment that you saw that the sound of trees cracking and then falling to the ground with loud thuds was heard, you felt your heart drop to your stomach.

You know exactly what this is now. It sounded like thunder before, but now you were realizing how mechanical it sounds. There is only one thing that comes to mind with that. Sky People. There was absolutely no mistaking that. You thought that it couldn't get any worse or that at least you'd have time to gather your thoughts for a second and escape, but you felt your entire body run cold when you saw trees start to fall just a few feet away.

The trees that were falling weren't part of the Tree of Voices yet, but whatever was out there doing this was getting closer, and if you didn't start moving now, you and Jake would get trampled. You haven't even gotten the chance to process the fact that this site would soon be reduced to nothing, and you couldn't stop it, but what you could do is get you and Jake out of here.

This beautiful, sacred, and monumental Na'vi site would be torn to the ground, and just the thought of it made heat start to gather behind your eyes. You tried to step closer to get a good look at what was demolishing the trees, but when you couldn't and realized they were getting closer, you put that aside for a second and immediately leaned down next to Jake and then frantically began to shake his body.

Your vision started to get glassy in panic and distress at the fact that the forest was being cleared and that you didn't even have a voice to yell out how much it pained you deep in your heart. You could not call out to Jake to get him to wake up, wherever he was. You continued to shake Jake's shoulders helplessly as you mouthed his name over and over as if you were yelling it out and had a voice to do it.

You kept looking back and forth between the trees that were falling closer and closer to you both. Trees that were falling would soon crush the two of you if you didn't leave right this instant, and you would not leave Jake behind. Not for anything in the world, even if you had to drag him out of here.

"Jake! Jake! Wake up! Please!" You mouthed desperately as tears started to fall down your cheeks, and you felt your tearing bit by bit at the sight of seeing a few trees from the Tree of Voices already being torn down. It was excruciating. You continued to shake him desperately so that he would wake up, but he was still out like a light, making your distress continue to grow relentlessly.

But what you didn't know is that Jake was completely unaware of what was happening out there and what you were going through all by yourself to get them both out of the bulldozers' way. He had completely forgotten today was the way that they would start tearing their way to Hometree.

Back at the base, he had just woken up the moment he felt the sunlight hit his face, and the first thing he did was wheel himself over to his pod. Grace saw this and laughed at how eager and excited he was, starting to initiate the link he was about to go into. She knew exactly why he had that little sparkle in his eyes. He couldn't wait another second to go back in and see you again, to hopefully wake up by your side for the first time.

Once Jake sat on the pod, Norm walked over and sat on it, beginning to wheel himself back and forth on it as Jake and Grace bickered lightly over starting the link. "No, no. It's that button over there, Grace," Jake said as he pointed to the monitor. Grace then scoffed and stared at him incredulously as if she hadn't done this a hundred times before already. "I know what to do, Marine," She laughed and continued to set it up as Norm watched with amusement in the back.

She could see his body language start to mirror nothing less than utter impatience, and she shook her head as she turned her head to the table next to her. "Slow down, will you? Besides, you still have to eat something. Norm, grab me that plate over there." She said, and Norm did as told and grabbed the plate that had scrambled eggs on it and some toast that she had made for him before coming in to prepare the link. He also grabbed the glass of water and handed both of those things to Jake so that he could at least go back in with something in his system. He keeps forgetting that.

Jake grabbed them begrudgingly as Grace took a pause from the monitor, pausing the process of the link altogether, and turned to the Marine, sitting in front of him on the pod. "Don't make me force-feed a cripple," She said, making Jake shake his head as he laughed at her words and put the plate that Norm handed him on his lap. He needed to get this done fast. He was wasting time here.

What if you were already awake, waiting for him? "Okay, geez. I'm doing it," He said as he started to wolf down the scrambled eggs and toast in his mouth as fast as he possibly could, trying to get as much substance in his body to be as sound as he possibly could to go back into his Avatar body. Grace and Norm looked at each other once and then back at Jake in disbelief at how fast he was eating, not fully understanding how he wasn't choking.

Grace shook her head and went back to the monitor and resumed the link process as Jake washed down the food with the glass of water in one go. He handed the plate back to Norm and then lay down on the pod at last. "Okay. I'm done. Let's go," He said urgently, and Norm chuckled at how eager and impatient Jake was right now, and Grace just wasn't surprised at all. She took a whiff of him, and her nose scrunched at how clear it was how he hadn't been taking care of this body at all like she'd told him to do days ago.

"You're not even going to shower first? When was the last time you did that?" She said, pressing the last few buttons on the monitor that would start up the link, and hearing the whirring of the pod behind her begin to fill up the room. Jake shrugged and got comfortable on the pod. "I don't need a shower," He argued, but Grace didn't believe him one bit on that. He knows he needs one, but he just doesn't care because this body isn't his priority anymore, but the other one out there was.

"Sure you don't. Jesus, Marine..." She said as she tapped the last few buttons on the screen and then turned away from the monitor, rolling her eyes, and stepped away to see the pod's door slowly starting to go down. Norm and Grace both exchanged nervous glances as Jake was finally out of view, and then the red-headed scientist let a couple of beats pass before she stepped away from Norm and went into her own pod. "Prepare my link, will you, Norm?" She asked, and the man nodded, standing up from the wheelchair and walking over to Grace's pod as she sat on it and lay back.

She needed to see what was going on over there right now. She had a terrible feeling in her gut that things weren't all sunshine and rainbows, and that Jake was too blinded to see that there might be something more serious afoot here.

Meanwhile, the bulldozers continued on their path without stopping. Seeing more trees falling closer and closer to you and Jake, tears were effectively falling down your face as you continued to shake Jake to get him to wake up. You were sobbing and realizing that you would have to carry him out of here by yourself, one way or another. Even if your limbs wouldn't be able to take it at all. The more you saw the trees of the Tree of Voices fall loudly to the ground with cracks that reached deep into your soul, the more you felt your own strength deteriorate.

"Jake! Please! Come back to me!" You said as you mouthed to him, as you felt your chest feel even tighter than it ever has, while your throat burned painfully. You grabbed his face and tried to shake his body even more, but it still wasn't working. You knew that you were both running out of time. Your tail was lashing behind you, your ears were pinned back, and your eyes were glassy and torn with agony. Knowing that he wasn't going to wake up in time, you opted for another way to get the two of you out of there.

You grabbed his arm and started to tug him out of the way of falling trees. Many were crashing just a few feet away from the two of you, and were miraculously not crushing you both. Yet. Jake was not light, and it took every ounce of your strength to pull him out of the way. It did not help the fact that he was limp and unresponsive. Your heart caught in your throat when a very spikey and thick tree fell dangerously close to him, nearly falling on his legs, but you pulled him out of the way just in time.

That could've ended very badly. The thud alone from the tree made the ground shake, and you fell to the ground out of the sheer impact and weight of that tree. Nonetheless, you continued to pull Jake out of the way. You would pull him all the way to Hometree if you needed to.

You wrapped your arms under his and started to bring him back further, despite feeling your arms start to burn in a way they never have before. Now that enough trees were cleared, you could see clearly the giant Sky Person machine powering through the remaining trees and getting closer to you and Jake. Adrenaline was coursing through your body, and the more you felt your feet crunch against the grass and moss below, the loud rumbles of the machine reverberated up and down your body.

As you continued to tug Jake back, you nearly tripped on a fallen log, and Jake's body fell over onto it. You looked back briefly at the giant machine, something that looked so out of place in the forest and brought so much chaos and destruction that it was unmistakable that it belonged to the Sky People. The way it was tearing down this sacred site, one of many, that you felt unmeasurably connected to, and so did all of the Na'vi, reminded you how heartless humans are.

It keeps reminding you of what they caused in the past and what made you so wary of them in the first place. Quick and painful flashes of your older sister and the thundering sounds of bullets flying at her appeared in your mind as you grabbed Jake again, even as you felt like you couldn't even breathe anymore. Jake was still hung over the log, and you grabbed his waistband and started to use it to continue to tug him forward.

Along with the giant bulldozer, there were multiple soldiers in giant AMP suits stalking, securing, and protecting the perimeter around the area being demolished in case any Na'vi tried to intervene. You saw this in the distance, and it only made you try to move even quicker than ever before.

You continued to try to haul Jake over the giant log as the bulldozer got closer, but something was making him unmovable, and you started sobbing harder at the realization that you were at a dead end. If he wasn't able to move, then neither were you.

You were not going to abandon him. He was your mate now, and you wouldn't leave him here to die, despite how you couldn't even pretend to be brave anymore because you'd die in the process. You'd still protect him with all that you have inside of you. Terror seeped deep into your veins, seeing trees cracking and breaking to the point that they might fall on the two of you any second now.

The bulldozer was getting closer, to the point that you could practically feel it on top of you at this point from the sheer size."JAKE!" You mouthed with even more intensity to the point that your words came out scratchy, nearly forming a real sound, from the amount of panic in your body that almost seemed enough to defy Eywa and give you your voice back, but it wasn't enough.

By some strange miracle, you gave one hard tug on Jake's arm and managed to bring him over the log at last. The ground continued to shake violently, and another tree collapsed next to the two of you with a deafening crash. You didn't look back again, because if you did, the last of your resolve would be nonexistent. All you could think about was getting him out of here.

Your arms, your legs, and your entire body burned as you continued to drag him through the roots and fallen trees while your tail continued to whip anxiously behind you. Stress and agony continue to claw at your chest as the mechanical and unnatural sounds of the Sky People machines. They were too loud, as if they were trying to announce how destructive they are and were very proud of it.

Your arms started to tremble with effort as you continued to pull him back, even if it was already starting to feel never-ending, as if you would never stop pulling. You didn't see where you were going, and you tripped all of a sudden, collapsing to your knees next to him. You looked up in utter fear as you froze for a second to see just how massive this machine truly was, the closer that it got.

But then you came back to your senses and tried one last time to get Jake to wake up. You grabbed his shoulder with one hand and cupped his face with the other as you looked at him pleadingly, begging Eywa to listen and for him to finally wake up. And as if your prayers were finally answered, that was the moment that Jake finally linked back into his Avatar body.

His eyes slowly started to open, and his vision was nothing but blurry and muffled. He was confused at first, but when his body started to adjust again, and he heard loud rumbles and felt the ground beneath him shake, that was enough for his body to suddenly jerk back to life. A sharp breath ripped into his lungs as his eyes snapped open, and you gasped in relief as more tears came down your cheeks at the fact that he'd finally awoken.

His vision was still blurry, though. Slowly, blinding light and fragments of sound came back to him as his mind struggled to catch up to his body, and his consciousness fully started to transfer. But when his vision finally cleared, the first thing he saw was you. He saw you leaning over him with streaked tears, eyes wide with terror, hair disheveled, the flower he gave you still intact, and your mouth moving, but nothing was coming out.

The sight alone made his heart twist violently inside his chest. Jake started to blink rapidly, and the first thing he did was start looking around, lost and confused. He was still very disoriented. "Hey- hey, what's going on-" He said, but then he looked to the side, and the rest of his words died in his mouth almost instantly. The forest was shaking, and it was because of the bulldozer that the RDA told him would arrive on schedule any day now, after three months. And now it did.

It finally happened. And it was destroying one of the most important sites to the Na'vi, and to you. One of the many places that you felt most connected to Eywa, and the place where you felt like you could go to for answers. Jake's entire body went rigid as he was quick to recognize the RDA logo on the side of the bulldozer, and it hit him like a punch to the chest. "Oh, no..." He muttered lowly as his gaze snapped back to you, and the sheer panic in your eyes made his entire body twist painfully at how heartbroken you were.

You began to sign frantically now that he was awake and tried to get his attention. The two of you could run right back to Hometree again. "Jake! Come on, we have to go! Now!" You signed with so much distress in your movements, through your tears, and before Jake could say anything else, another violent tremor shook the ground beneath both of you.

That made something snap inside Jake as his eyes hardened and he knew exactly what he needed to do, and he wouldn't think about it twice or regret it for a single second. You watched as Jake scrambled to his feet, pulled you behind him as a barrier between you and the bulldozer.

You felt all the blood drain from your body when you saw him run straight towards the machine while jumping up and down, waving his arms around so that the person who was controlling it could see him. "Hey!" He yelled, trying his best to get himself seen. All you could do was stare at him in shock at what he was doing. You shook your head and got to your feet, hoping that they wouldn't hurt him.

Who knows what else they're capable of? And you know that they won't stop just because he's standing there. They've already proved that they don't care about life on this planet at all. You were fighting every bone in your body to stay back like you know Jake wants you to, but all you want to do is just take his hand, drag you both out of here before it costs you both your lives.

You can't fight them right now, either. "Stop! Stop!" He yelled out, waving his hands around, but the bulldozer was still going strong and not showing any signs of stopping. You wished so badly that you could yell out for him to stop, but you can't. You hate that you can't have a voice in moments like these, where you know that you need it the most and just feel completely powerless.

Jake didn't stop and continued to show no fear or weakness in front of the Sky People. He went on to try to get the attention of the people controlling the machine. "Go back! Stop!" He continued to yell out loudly at the top of his lungs, not noticing that there were indeed a few cameras mounted at the top of the bulldozer that were recording everything live for whoever controls it. The camera panned down onto Jake and you, and the image was being shown to one of the operators of the bulldozer in the main control room back at the main RDA base.

The guy who was manning the bulldozer squinted when he saw a flash of blue in his screen. He leaned forward and then saw two Na'vi, one of them waving his arms around frantically. "Hey, boss," He called out, and Parker heard this. The man started to walk over, and the employee pulled back the remote controllers, making the bulldozer stop altogether for a second.

Back at the forest, you and Jake saw this, and in that moment, you could've sworn that you would collapse right then and there from relief. Jake also stopped waving his arms around and then turned to you, saw the state you were in, immediately rushed to your side, put both hands on your arms, and then lifted one hand to cup your cheek. "We're okay...you're okay," He said, voice low and hushed as he wiped your tears. You swallowed and nodded, but deep down, you didn't believe it at all.

You know deep down that this was the start of something much, much worse, and you were scared. You really were, and as you let your eyes trail around to all of the trees from the Tree of Voices that had fallen, tears pricked at your eyes again, and you tried to blink them away. Jake saw this, and he stared at you as if he had been just stabbed repeatedly in his chest. All he could do was pull you into his arms and wrap one arm around your waist, and the other one threaded into your hair as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head.

As you wrapped your own arms around his waist, you clung to him as if you'd crumble if you didn't. But feeling you hold him so tight, the guilt inside Jake's chest grew exponentially and agonizingly. This was all his fault, and he knew it. He knew that the bulldozers would arrive, and he's kept quiet all this time.

He knows that one way or another, you'll find out about what you did, and you'll never hold him again the way you are now because you won't be able to see anything else other than betrayal. What he saw just now, your tear-stricken face, the heartbreak in your eyes from losing the Tree of Voices, and the endless devotion you felt for him that pumped through your body that you used to drag him out of the wreckage was only a small taste of what would await him the moment he told you the truth, and he won't be able to take it.

If he was scared before of how much it would destroy you to hear the truth, he just saw a preview of it just now. Of you witnessing your home being torn down right before your eyes, without understanding why it was happening. But Jake knew why. And he would have to pay the price for it. All he could do, as you wished for nothing but reassurance and love, was say, "We're gonna be okay..." He whispered again, and you nodded against him, trying to believe every word he said to you and clung onto that as if it was a lifeline.

Your eyes were closed shut as you pressed your cheek against his chest, and Jake could still feel your body shaking and trembling. But neither of you had any idea that the bulldozer stopping meant that they were done. The RDA was far from done, and this little pause only helped the two of you catch your breath and gather yourselves before it started again.

Back at the base, Parker walked over to the man controlling the bulldozer with a bag of chips as he casually put one in his mouth. "What?" He said with a mouthful of chips, and the employee briefly looked back at his boss and then back at the monitor. He had given the go-ahead for the bulldozer to finally make its way to Hometree that morning, and he hoped that there were no inconveniences right off the bat. The morning has just started.

"I got two natives in front of the bulldozer. They're blocking the path. What do I do?" He said, not knowing where to go from here, and Parker leaned down to look at what the employee was talking about, and he saw exactly what was being said. It was a little blurry since you and Jake were at a long range from the camera, but two figures could definitely be seen there in front of the bulldozer.

Parker simply shrugged, leaned forward, and put one of his hands on the controller as if it were one of the most obvious things in the world. "Doesn't matter. Keep going, they'll move, won't they? These people have to learn that we don't stop. Go on, go, go," He said as he guided the controllers forward again, starting up the machine all over again. And that action immediately translated over to the machine in front of you and Jake.

The bulldozer started up again, startling you and Jake. You gasped as a hand flew straight to your mouth, instinctively starting to take several steps back. Jake's face twisted in anger and resolve. His chest rose and fell with adrenaline, and his eyes landed on the cameras for a split second, and he didn't waste another second to take action.

First thing on his mind: getting you out of here safely. Right now, if he wanted to stop this bulldozer, the only way he would be able to do so is if you were safe. Jake turned to you and slid his hands on your cheeks, cupping your face and forcing you to look at him. You froze as you stared at him with glassy eyes, and your mouth parted. "Run," He said breathlessly, and you looked at him with confusion at what he was asking of you. Did he want you to leave without him? There's no way.

You shook your head fervently in his hold, and Jake kept looking back at the bulldozer getting closer. His heart wrenched at how fiercely loyal you still are despite being in a situation like this, and your own fear eating you alive. "Y/n. I'm telling you, get out of here, baby. Now! I mean it! I'll be right behind you, okay?" Jake said with absolute certainty, and before you could object for a second longer about this plan, another tree fell near the two of you, startling you as you gasped silently in terror, and that was more than enough reason to just grab your hand and start to lead you out.

If you refuse to leave without him, he'll just go with you and then leave when he knows you're safe to take care of the bulldozer. Jake brought you in front of him so he could keep you in his sights as the two of you started to run out of there together. "Go! Go!" Jake urged with an intensity in his voice that got your feet moving even faster as the two of you continued to run until your legs started to burn.

It was making your entire body burn even more, the thought that you were leaving this sacred place behind, with no defense. You should accept it's gone now, and there's nothing you can do about it, and that fact hurts more than anything else. Once again, the Sky People crossed a line, and deep in your heart, you swore that they'd pay for it. Right now, you and Jake were both heading to a place that the bulldozers and the RDA machinery hadn't quite reached yet. After Jake knows for sure that you're out of harm's way, he can go and do something about this.

Back at the base, Parker gestured at the monitor and, seeing the two blue figures that were blocking the path move out of the way at last. He patted the back of the employee and then put another chip in his mouth, as if they weren't destroying sacred Na'vi territory in that very moment. "There, see? He moved," He said, and the employee simply continued to control as if it was nothing and moved the bulldozer forward to have it continue on the path it was in before.

They did this with zero empathy in their hearts and had no idea what they were actively destroying. Sites like this one, the most sacred and meaningful of sites for your people, have the most significant and largest unobtanium deposits of unobtanium. Hometree, Tree of Voices, and Tree of Souls were all places that the RDA had in their sights and this particular one was on the path to Hometree, so to them, it was like killing two birds with one stone.

Which was beyond heartless. The trees they are tearing down have an unimaginable number of networks in their system that ar every dear to the Na'vi, and being cut off from Eywa feels worse than death to many. If they tear down this place, and then Hometree, and then go after the Tree of Souls, this clan and many others will be cut off from ever communicating with Eywa ever again.

Ironically, you and your people have built your lives, culture, and way of life around these sites, and all humans see it as valuable mining sites that they'll just leave behind when there's nothing left to take. Witnessing it made something crack in your soul, your heart, and every reason for living. And it was tearing you apart right now.

You didn't turn back once, as Jake told you to do. You just continued to run and run until your legs would snap off at any second. But as soon as you reached the forest and hid behind a tree, and then turned back to see if Jake was still behind you, but when you turned around and didn't see anyone behind you, your blood ran cold.

Your head darted everywhere to see where he could be, and when you saw a flash of blue climbing up the bulldozer, your hands rose to your mouth, and your eyes widened in terror. You stayed behind the tree as you watched Jake make his way up the bulldozer, while successfully avoiding the soldiers in the AMP suits that would surely fire at him if they saw him. You wanted to desperately leave the safety of the tree you were hiding behind, but you know that Jake wanted you to stay here.

You had to fight every bone in your body not to go after him, despite how much you wanted to fight back against this by his side. Your entire body was trembling, and tears had not stopped falling down your cheeks since you woke up. You saw Jake make his way up to the top and stand in front of the cameras, grab the nearest rock and start to smash every one of them with a bruising force.

Every hit was filled with anger for destroying this place, for making you feel unimaginable pain, for causing you to be in an endless sea of tears, for destroying your home with nothing but greed and carelessness. There was anger coursing through his body. This morning could have gone so differently; he imagined waking up and seeing your beautiful face looking at him with just as much love as he was.

He wanted to wake up and realize that you had your whole lives in front of you, both to spend them together, and that you were finally his. But the RDA destroys everything they touch, and he won't let them get away with it.

The frustration he was feeling was being translated with every smash of the cameras, and he realized in that moment that no matter what comes after this, he's known deep down for a long time that he would protect this forest with his life and its people with his life. You and your clan did not deserve any of this.

You and your people were just living in peace and minding your own business before humans suddenly decided that they'd fucked up their own planet enough and had to invade another one for self-interest. Now, Jake wanted nothing more than to send a strong message, loud and clear, and break these cameras and show them that he would not just stand by and let this happen was just the start.

Back at the RDA base, the moment that the employee saw that the cameras were being destroyed by the same Na'vi who had been blocking the path before. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Dude, dude! No! Oh, I'm blind..." He said as his eyes went wide in shock and fell back in his chair when the screens all started to go black with no signal. The moment that Jake's smashing of the attention of the soldiers on the ground in the AMP suits, when they saw him, they immediately started to shoot, not knowing that it was Jake.

They just assumed it was another Na'vi that was trying to fight back against them, like its happened before in the past. When Jake heard the barrage of bullets coming his way, he stopped hitting the cameras and immediately ducked to avoid the gunfire. He began to make his way down the bulldozer and headed straight towards you.

He'd made his point, and hopefully, that gave the RDA a small taste of what he was willing to do to go against them. All Jake could think about now was getting back to you as he finally leaped down from the bulldozer and ran straight towards the forest where he was certain you were still waiting.

You felt your heart get caught up in your throat painfully when you saw bullets firing at Jake all of a sudden, and once again, flashes of your own sister dying at the hands of those same sounds came rushing back to you. You saw as he jumped off the bulldozer, tumbled to the ground, but was very quick to get back on his feet as he started to mindlessly run around trying to see if he could get any sight of you.

Your throat burned with the need to call out to him and tell him where you were, but you couldn't. Your heart constricted with agony at that simple fact, and it spread to your entire body. You wanted him to know that you were okay, you wanted to let him know where you were, because who knows what will happen to him if he spends too much time out in the open with those Sky People with guns who knew it was him that tried to destroy their cameras.

You saw him stop for a second and gather up enough energy to yell at the top of his lungs. "Y/n!" He screamed, looking around and trying to see if he could see a flash of blue that was unmistakable to him. But all he could see was destruction; trees that were splintered and fallen on the ground, morning fog, the rumbling of the bulldozer beneath his feet. Everything was destroyed.

He didn't hear an answer from you, and his heart began to race with panic when you didn't show up or show yourself when he yelled the first time. "Y/n!" He yelled again as he started running once more, and after a few seconds, he started to pray that nothing bad happened to you when he was away. He nearly felt his knees give out on him when he saw you peek out of a tree nearby in fear that you might get shot at if you showed yourself too much out in the open.

"Oh my God...Y/n," He breathed out and immediately started running in your direction as you kept flinching with every tree that continued to fall. The sight alone made him just want to hold you in his arms, never let go, and reassure you that everything would be okay. That no one would ever hurt you as long as he was alive, that he would fight alongside your people tooth and nail against Sky People, and that he would never leave your side.

He didn't waste another second to start running towards you, and when he was close enough, you came out of hiding and immediately jumped into his arms, wrapped your arms around his neck, and tucked your face into his chest. Jake immediately lowered the two of you to the ground as he kept an arm wrapped around your waist and another one in the back of your head. He could feel your body trembling and shakingviolently under his hold, and it only made him grip your body tighter.

After a few seconds, after rocking you from side to side for a few seconds, he pulled away from you slightly and cupped your face as he inspected you. He couldn't see it before once he reached you, and you immediately hid your face into him, but now that he could, you still had tears full of heartbreak still pouring down your face, making something deep down inside Jake shatter to pieces.

He couldn't bear seeing you like this. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Is the first he asked, as he began to quickly inspect you. You shook your head numbly, and then you hiccuped silently and quickly buried yourself in his chest yet again, not wanting to witness any more of this. Jake wrapped an arm around you again and held you close to him as you continued to sob in his arms, just seeing how, in a matter of minutes, the Tree of Voices had been leveled completely.

He could feel you being absolutely torn apart in his hold as he cradled your face close to his chest, as you refused to look at any of this anymore. You bonded with Jake here. The two of you made a lifelong connection in this place, and now it was being reduced to nothing. The tendrils that once glowed so brightly with the voices of your ancestors are now lying tangled in the dirt as if they're nothing. Silent, just like you. Cut off from Eywa completely. You would never, ever forget this. Never.

Jake was feeling nothing but anger and rage coursing through every part of his body as the combination of you sobbing in his arms and the bulldozer continuing on their way as if they hadn't done enough damage already was sending him into a spiral. His face twisted with outrage as he slammed his fist on the tree next to the two of you with his free hand and continued to hold you close, wishing he knew how to make it go away.

But as he saw how the ground churned with fire and there were only broken trunks filling the area, he knew that he was too late and that there was nothing he could do to take this back. They were here because he fed them intel. After all, he didn't have the guts to stop them before any of this happened, and because he was too caught up in the bliss of the life he could've had with you to see that no amount of apologizing would fix this.

But now that he knew which side he belonged on, which side he needed to fight with, he will continue to fight back even if you don't want to see him ever again. If he could manage to spare your people from this, and you made it out of this alive, then that would be good enough for him. He knows that he can't change the past, but he can change the future and prevent the RDA from reaching any other very important sites from here on out, and he would do everything he could to make sure that you and your people don't meet a demise you didn't ask for.

All he could do now was stay by your side until you realized you didn't want to be by his. And he would cherish every single minute of it, and hopefully, he would get to see that smile on your face one last time before it's ripped away.

At the same time, several Na'vi from the Omaticaya war party that was being led by Tsu'tey rode in on their Pa'li's from the forest with sharp and fast movements. They all stopped in their tracks as they came across a large clearing that was plowed by the bulldozer and was left to nothing but ash and burning trees. Tsu'tey and the warrior's eyes all widened as they took in the devastation: broken trunks and burned earth.

This was the place where the Tree of Voices once stood and spread far and wide. Their silence spoke louder than words ever could on how horrified they were. They had heard the news of a Sky People attack, but none of them knew that it would go to this extent. Tsu'tey's chest rose and fell as he grew more enraged by the second, huffing angrily at the clear act of war that the Sky People had done. And it didn't help Tsu'tey's rage when his gaze landed on you and Jake.

He began to seethe as he saw the way you sobbed agonizingly in his chest as Jake held you close. He knows that Jake had something to do with this, and he didn't know for sure yet, but he would prove it. To him, he would always be part of the Sky People, no matter how many rituals he passed to become part of The People. For all he knew, Jake had been putting up a front, lying to you all this time, and had been on the Sky People's side all along.

If there was a moment where he truly believed Jake was telling the truth, it was all gone now. The look on his face as he held you was not one of a person who was innocent. And any progress that he and Jake had made before to make amends vanished into the air, and ferocity roared in Tsu'tey's chest instead. He was going to be Olo'eyktan soon, and he needed to do what was best for you, for Neytiri, your parents, and his people.

He has been thinking that every move he's made twice recently for your sake, but now, he wouldn't hesitate anymore. He was trying to give Jake a chance before any of this happened, but this just made him realize he shouldn't have done it at all, and neither did you. Tsu'tey yipped loudly and turned back around on his direhorse to start leading the war party back to Hometree to warn the rest of the clan of what had happened. Now was the time to act and fight back.

-

After the whole incident with Jake breaking the cameras, back at Hell's Gate, Parker, Quaritch, and many other employees were huddling around the desk of the man who was manning the bulldozer to review the footage. They were able to recover the footage before it was destroyed, and once the man who was controlling the bulldozer said that the face looked familiar to him, they brought over the Colonel to watch as well.

So, now they were replaying the footage and trying to figure out who it was that broke the cameras. So, as they rewinded it, Quaritch leaned in closer. "Freeze it right...there," Quaritch said, as the employee paused the video where Jake's face could be seen facing directly into the camera, but the image was still a little blurry.

"Scale-up. Enhance," He said, and the employee did as told and tapped several buttons on the screen to improve the quality of the video. Once it did, it showed that it was Jake. Clear as day. Smashing the cameras.

Parker scoffed as he threw his head back and put his hands on his hips. No wonder Jake and Grace were so intent on putting off the bulldozer arrival. When they came to him the other day, he should've known that it was for another reason other than the good of the RDA and not because of any other personal reason. Unbelievable.

"Son of a bitch..." Parker muttered in utter disbelief as Jake's face in his Avatar body was shown fighting back against the very people and race he promised to be loyal to, and not the Na'vi. Now, while Parker felt disbelief, Quaritch saw this and felt an emotion bubbling up inside him much stronger than rage. It was something else entirely. The Colonel thought in that very moment that he should've known all this time that this is what would happen.

That he should've known that Jake wasn't on their side anymore. He should've picked up on Jake's weird behavior and tone in his voice when they spoke the other day. The pauses, the hesitation, the refusal to stop the mission, and even the dismissal of knowing he could get his legs back. Quaritch should not have ignored those alarms blaring in his head that told him that Jake was up to something, but it all makes sense now.

He went out of his way to give Jake what he wanted and put his trust in him. Marine to Marine. Now, all that trust, camaraderie, and brotherhood that he thought they had at the beginning of these three months was nothing but a facade all along. Something more dangerous than anger brewed inside Quaritch's chest, and he wouldn't stop until he showed Jake that he had made a mistake in betraying them and that he would make him feel it for a very long time after this.

That was a promise. This wasn't just any betrayal. It was personal. He put his trust in Jake and believed that he was on their side and that he would be loyal to their cause. But now that the truth has come to light, there is only one thing left to do.

In one swift movement, Quaritch stood up and walked away from the group huddled around the monitor and over to the exit. At this revelation, he had only one goal in mind right now, and it was to get to Jake and show him that he and the RDA are not who you want to mess with. He walked out of the room and started barking out orders with clear rage in his voice. "Get me a pilot!" He spat loudly, and without hesitation, a soldier who was on standby immediately nodded and ran off to do exactly as he was asked.

"Yes, sir!" He said, and after that, Quaritch didn't stop moving and wouldn't stop moving, even when he knew that this betrayal ran deep. Not only to him, but Jake's own race, the RDA (which were the ones who brought him out here in the first place), and everyone who counted on him. This wasn't going to go over lightly, and now that they know that Jake was against him, Parker ordered the video logs he's been taking all this time during the last 3 months to be looked over.

If this was what they were able to catch, Parker didn't even want to imagine what Jake had been saying in those video logs that could be used against him. Now that Quaritch was on his way to the base camp up in the mountains, Jake was on borrowed time to reason with the Na'vi. That is, if they don't find out what he did first and take care of him first before Quaritch does. Either way, he knows he has no way out of this anymore.

-

There were no emotions that could describe what Tsu'tey was feeling the moment the war party returned to Hometree. Everyone in the clan had already heard about the disturbance from the Sky People and had been waiting for the war party to return and give them the news to see what had happened out there. The moment that Tsu'tey and the rest of the group of warriors returned, the direhorses' hooves thundered across the forest floor, straight towards the entrance of Hometree.

They had been riding through the jungle with their anger and indignation of what they saw translating through the bond with the direhorses, leaving branches snapped and leaves scattered in their wake, and no one dared to speak a word of what they saw because they were too consumed with the displeasure of seeing their home being trampled to the ground by Sky People machinery.

It meant war, and they all knew it. Their goal was to find Eytukan first and tell him about what they saw, and from there, they'd form a battle plan on how to retaliate. He was still the Olo'eyktan after all, and once they tell him, the rest of the clan will be informed in the process, so that everyone is informed about it.

As they all rode closer to Hometree, the tension amongst the warriors hung thick in the air as the images of the devastation became even clearer than ever before in their minds, and it only spurred them on to fight back even harder against the humans, not even considering how severely outmatched they would be. All they knew was that they would fight with courage, bravery, and without fear for their people and their home, and that was all any of them needed to move forward.

So, when Tsu'tey, at the head of the group, led the war party through the opening of Hometree, many Na'vi were alerted to their return and started to quickly rush to welcome them. They started to murmur amongst themselves to see if they could read the faces on the warriors when they saw how sullen they looked. Tsu'tey and the other warriors all kept hardened expressions that made everyone start to murmur and whisper amongst themselves as they all dismounted their direhorses.

They could all tell that something was very wrong here, and it could be seen in the warrior's faces, no matter how much they tried to keep their faces neutral for the rest of the clan. As the warriors got off their rides, the creatures snorted once they separated their queues from them. The Omaticaya could see how sharp and restless their movements were, only creating more discourse and curiosity about what might have happened.

And the one who was at the center of it all was Tsu'tey. All eyes were on him, and everyone was expecting him to say something to the clan about what was happening. His jaw was tight, his ears were pinned back, and his golden eyes were hardened with conflict. Something deeper and darker is brewing behind them. His whole body looked coiled and rigid, as if he might snap at any moment, which is why everyone refrained from saying anything and stayed quiet.

It must have been really bad, then. That's what everyone was thinking. Nobody stopped him and cleared the way for him as Tsu'tey began to head straight towards where he knew Eytukan would be. That was the priority before anything else. But as he walked across the crowd, a smaller figure hurried toward him, trying to filter and actively squeeze through the gathering crowd of nervous Omaticaya.

It was Saeyla, a Na'vi woman from the clan that only recently became a hunter, and she looked up to Tsu'tey a lot for everything she's ever wanted to learn. That is why she felt like she owed it to him to tell him what she knew. "Tsu'tey," She called urgently, but Tsu'tey had other things to focus on right now and couldn't stop to talk to anyone. There were bigger things afoot.

He barely looked at her as he continued to stride towards the center of the village in Hometree, where Eytukan said that he'd be waiting. "Later, Saeyla. There is no time. I must speak with the Olo'eyktan," He said sharply, but the woman did not give up. She accelerated her pace until she caught up with him and grabbed his arm. That caught his attention.

Tsu'tey stopped altogether and turned around to look at the woman with wide eyes as shock flashed in his amber eyes. He was so flabbergasted by her actions and was about to ask why she did that and to let go, but then he saw the urgency in her eyes, one that might just rival his. He sighed and crossed his arms, turning around fully to face her.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to read through her expression and hoping that this was important enough that it was delaying his visit to Eytukan. She was clearly very antsy on her feet and was about to say it, but then she stopped when she realized that the clan was crowding both of them from every angle. She glanced around nervously, feeling several Na'vi already watching the exchange curiously, whispering as they noticed the tension of the war party and were anxious to hear what was happening.

In one swift moment, she grabbed Tsu'tey's arm again and started dragging her away to a more secluded spot in Hometree. Tsu'tey was about to protest, but simply let her do it because this clearly sounded important, but he still wanted it to be quick because there was no time to waste. When they both stood in a place where nobody could hear them, Saeyla's voice dropped to a whisper and began to speak. "There is something you need to know," She said, but Tsu'tey raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. His patience was already running thin.

"Speak. Make it quick," He said, and Saeyla shifted from foot to foot anxiously as she hesitated, but she knew she just had to go and get it out; otherwise, she'd lose her chance before it was too late. Her fingers twisted anxiously with each other as she leaned in closer to him.

"It is about the demon. Jake Sully," She said, and the words alone made Tsu'tey's expression darken. He did not want to hear that man's name right now, especially with the suspicions and anger he had towards him, right now, and if this conversation was about him, then he'd rather just table this and talk about it later. His resentment for Jake had already existed since the moment he arrived in this clan, but now it was reaching a boiling point, and he'd rather not let his emotions explode right now, of all moments when he was supposed to remain calm and strong for his people.

"What about him?" He said, trying to sound as composed as he possibly could. From what he could see, it seemed that she was confident about telling him before, but now that they were here face to face, she was a little bit more hesitant to actually do it. She swallowed, and then a certain sparkle flashed in her eyes, as if she suddenly remembered why she wanted to do this in the first place. Something firm settled behind her eyes, and she spoke.

"Last night, I went to the Tree of Voices. After the demon's dream hunt," She said, and Tsu'tey's eyes narrowed in suspicion on what this had to do with Jake. He glanced back for a second and then turned back to Saeyla again. "And?" He urged, not wanting her to beat around the bush anymore. This was important, and he really needed to go find Eytukan now, and he felt like this was going a lot slower than it needed to. Saeyla's voice dropped even lower as she spoke again.

"I saw him there. With her," She said lowly, getting closer and closer to dropping the bomb, although with those words alone, it was easy to deduce where it was going. Tsu'tey stiffened when things started to click in place for him. Two Na'vi, Tree of Voices, at night? He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose as he prayed to Eywa that this wasn't going where he thought it was.

For a moment, he said nothing, but he had a million questions bubbling up, as if going to Eytukan didn't seem as important anymore. Anything to do with you and your well-being felt like it jumped to the top of the list. When he spoke next, his voice was low and sharp.

"You followed them there?" He asked, not knowing what Saeyla was doing out there in the first place, but she was quick to shake her head. She did not expect to see them at all there in the first place, and while this whole thing is certainly convenient, it was not deliberate either. "No. After the ceremony, I went there only to pray. They did not know I was there," Saeyla said as she glanced around, hoping no one was around to hear these words.

Something cracked beneath Tsu'tey's exterior; there was definitely a thin line between him letting that string inside him snap. He did not like where this was going at all, and he was scared to ask. It was exactly what he had already feared would happen, and if it happened to be what he thought, he didn't know how long he'd be able to keep his composure. He knew he had to know, and he had to hear it from Saeyla and hear it out in the open before he lost his mind. He crossed his arms and took a big inhale before asking,

"What did you see, Saeyla? Do not lie to me," He said sternly as he straightened up and asked her to be straight with him and not continue to beat around the bush with him. She took a big inhale, maintaining eye contact with him, and then exhaled shakily.

She said the words quietly but with certainty. "They made Tsaheylu," She said, and in that moment, the ground seemed to be yanked from under Tsu'tey. His whole world came to a halt, and hearing it only confirmed what he'd feared was true all along and explained so much.

The details made it so much worse. You and Jake made Tsaheylu, a lifelong bond between two Na'vi. Sacred and beyond meaningful. It was witnessed by Eywa herself. And if the bond was accepted and approved by the Great Mother, it only made the void in Tsu'tey's chest grow. So many images flashed in his brain of you and Jake throughout the last few months that suddenly made him kick himself for not trying harder to stop this.

If a bond is rejected by Eywa, it would be more than clear. It usually manifests as a lack of euphoria or a feeling of indifference or revulsion to the other person, and the two Na'vi are forced to realize they are not meant to be. But that is not what Tsu'tey saw that morning. His fists started to curl in on themselves when he remembered how you'd been clinging to Jake. How your body shook as you sobbed, and he held you tightly to him and refused to let go. His stomach twisted and felt like he'd been repeatedly stabbed.

How could he have let this happen? He was supposed to protect you. In the way he never got to do with Sylwanin. He was supposed to protect his best friend from the influence of Sky People. He was supposed to shield you from it all, and he failed in every conceivable way. He failed to keep his promise to your older sister, the girl he was undeniably in love with for years, but died at the hands of humans and can only visit in places like the Tree of Voices, which is now torn to shreds because of the Sky People. Because of Jake.

This only gave Tsu'tey more and more of a reason to do exactly what he returned to Hometree to do. No hesitation this time, because hesitating and second-guessing is what led to this. He failed before, but he wouldn't anymore.

While Tsu'tey seemed to be spiraling right in front of her, Saeyla watched him carefully as she tried to remain neutral, but her face revealed a little of what she was feeling. Her insides were far from calm. They were much like Tsu'tey's at the moment. She had not intended to witness what she did, and she left after you and Jake made Tsaheylu, and Eywa did not reject the bond, and you were free to be together.

Just as she'd told Tsu'tey, she went there merely to pray, as she often did. But what she saw right before her eyes, with certainty that she was not imagining it, is changing everything. The future of the clan was not simply a matter of warriors and battles, but also spiritual. And the one who would one day stand as Tsahik for The People needed to embody the will of Eywa completely.

And Saeyla has noticed your hesitation lately, your distraction, your doubts. Saeyla has spent years studying and learning from Mo'at as an apprentice, one of the many young women training in the spiritual practices of the clan. She had been a potential future Tsahik candidate.

She learned the chants, how to use herbs, the ways of the spirits, and the voices of the ancestors. She had always believed that if she worked hard enough, she'd be considered more than capable enough to lead the clan. But deep down, she always knew that the path had never been as open to her as it was to you. You were born with the gift, with the connection, with the soul of the Great Mother inside you.

So, a part of her thought that if the clan learned that the future Tsahik had chosen to bond herself to a demon, not out of spite or cruelty for her own doubts but out of true love...it let Saeyla consume her all night. She believes that The People deserved better. She knew that Tsu'tey was also fiercely protective of you, and if he learned about this, something would be done about it.

He was proud and loyal to the traditions of the clan. You seemed to have forgotten what it meant to be a figure that is meant to be looked up to, and if anyone would understand the seriousness of what she had seen, it would be Tsu'tey. All she could see from him now was how he refused to react, as if he was still in denial about what she was telling him right now.

His ears pinned back and flattened as the revelation continued to hang in the air. "You are lying," He muttered, dangerously low, as if his mind was trying to beg for another alternative to this situation because he simply did not want to believe it whatsoever. Saeyla was quick to shake her head and assured him that it was not fake and that it was not a lie. Tsu'tey simply stared at her as true disbelief flashed across his face.

"It cannot be. The demon cannot bond with one of The People," He said as if he was clinging onto the last bit of hope that all of this was some kind of sick and twisted dream and that he would wake up any second now and it would all be an illusion. But he knows it's not, and that's what pierces him even deeper. "I am certain, Tsu'tey. I saw both of their kuru's join. I saw them, and it is not a lie," She said, even more firmly than before, and something in Tsu'tey's gaze cracked as he finally let himself be succumbed to reality.

For a long time, he didn't say anything, keeping Saeyla on her toes about what he could say or do about this. Then, his voice came out low, dangerous, and controlled. "If what you are saying is true..." He started as his golden eyes hardened with a glint that Saeyla had never seen before in his eyes. "Then it is only right that the clan know,s" He said, with all the hesitation that he failed to get rid of before leaving his body in a second. Saeyla looked uneasy but decided to give her own input on what should be done from here on out.

To Tsu'tey, the only reason this was happening is that they made the mistake of letting Jake into the clan, and he was bringing all of the harmful chaos of his world into their own, and they could not allow it to spread the way that it is.

"Should we tell the Tsahik and the Olo'eyktan first?" She added, and this time, Tsu'tey was quick to shake his head, and his gaze lifted toward the heart of Hometree, where the entire clan was still waiting for the news and where Eytukan and Mo'at were also waiting. "No. It is time they all hear it," He said, with a grim and sullen expression beneath how hardened it is. Without another word, Tsu'tey turned around and strode toward the very center of the village to summon the leaders of the Omaticaya and the whole clan together.

He could pretend that this wasn't affecting him the way it was, all he wanted, but Saeyla could see how the tension in his posture spoke volumes. She silently watched as he began walking toward the inner roots of Hometree. Toward the leaders, the clan, and the truth. Even if he only knew a fraction of it, and many of his own suspicions about Jake were yet to be confirmed. Still, she watched him go as her expression remained calm and composed, despite something in her chest beginning to stir.

It was not guilt or regret, because she would not take back getting the truth about this out in the open, but it was more the quiet feeling of hope that maybe Eywa had made this happen for a reason and for the good of the Omaticaya. She has a feeling that the path of the clan might change, for good or for the worse.

Jake doesn't think he's ever felt this kind of love and burning desire alike in his body before, where the devotion he feels for you is being multiplied ten times more than ever before because of the bond.

The moment the two of you declared to each other that your lifelong bond, solidifying the fact that there is no other place that you two would rather be than in each other's arms, Jake acted quicker than you could process it. In a millisecond, Jake leaned back in and slotted his lips against yours and started to kiss you with just as much desperation as before, if not more.

You giggled silently against his lips, and a smirk tugged at them as he began to guide you down to the soft moss below, as the glowing seeds drifted around the two of you with acceptance. Jake couldn't let his hands stay in one place, and neither could his lips.

As his mouth started to make his way across your jaw until he moved to your neck and started leaving open-mouthed kisses there, you felt that same fire return to your entire body, spreading like a wildfire.

As his hands started to occupy different places, letting them roam across your waist, your hips, nearing your thighs, and then back up, going around your back, and repeating the same process all over again continuously.

You couldn't form a single coherent thought in your brain right now, and you couldn't focus on anything else but the way Jake was making you feel at that moment. He was doing all the right moves, and it was just driving you insane. You weren't exactly helping Jake keep all of his composure intact either.

As he towered over you, he could feel you dragging your hands all over him, trying to get some traction. His neck, his chest, his shoulders, his arms, his back, and everywhere you could find. God, what were you doing to him? You didn't know your own power.

Jake was also beginning to feel more and more bold as time went by, and he knew he needed to move this forward, and with every reaction your body made to his touch, he got more and more confident. But he also wanted to remember that he wanted to go slow at the same time.

God knows how long he's been thinking of this; for weeks, after he went to sleep in his human body, after every time you stood too close to him, after you looked into his eyes a lot longer than he could handle with a lingering gaze. Every single time your touch lasted a lot less than he would like and made him internally beg you for more.

And now that it's happening, and he can see you wanting this as much as he does, with this yearning in your breathing and your eyes, he also wants to savor it and enjoy every second of it, despite how much he was rushing it before.

His lips were still latched onto your neck, and when he alternated sides and went to the other one, starting to use his tongue and teeth to rake against it, your response was to gasp silently and raise your hands to his hair that you braided yourself and tugged on them. Jake groaned lowly and breathlessly against your skin, and his hands on your waist tightened, trying to keep his composure.

He was putting everything into kissing you right now because he didn't want to ever stop this moment, and the bond still connected was making the emotions and every sensation multiply by a thousand, and you have no idea how you're holding yourself together right now. Now that Jake attended to both sides of your neck, he quickly went back to your lips and continued to kiss you deeply.

You responded without hesitation and kissed him back just as eagerly, not wanting to ever stop feeling your lips against his. You sighed breathlessly into each other's mouths for a second, breaking the kiss for a second, but then going right back in. You were touching each other in every way possible, in a way you two thought was only a dream, but was more than real in this moment.

You could stay here kissing him forever, and Jake was right on board, but he wanted to go further. If you wanted to. He wanted to worship you, every part of you, but he wanted you to enjoy it. He wanted you to know how much he loved you inside and out, in every conceivable way, with every part of his body, but he also wanted to respect you and everything that made you you in this moment.

You were so unaware of how much of an effect you have on him, how you managed to tear his heart apart and put it back together just from your smile, and he never wanted to be the reason it went away. Now that you have opened yourself to him and allowed yourself to be in such a vulnerable place with him, he will cherish that trust and only go further if you allow it.

If he ever accidentally disrespected you in any way, he would never forgive himself for it, and this moment of all moments was one that that belief will count for the most. He moved his hands from your waist up to your face, cupping your cheeks, tangling his fingers in your soft hair, and continuing to kiss you as if his life depended on it.

He wanted to test the waters a bit, so he bit your bottom lip, making you gasp silently, and he took that as his opening to kiss you even deeper as he slipped his tongue in your mouth. Your face twisted together with pleasure as you kept your eyes closed and felt his tongue tangle with yours because the sensation was unreal, and you've never felt anything like it. You've never kissed anyone like this before, been with anyone like this in your life, and never done what you're about to do with him either.

Jake could see you letting out soft gasps in between the kisses, which were getting sloppier and harder from how good it all felt, but none of them with any real sound, and it left him to wonder in that moment what it would be like to hear those sounds one day if Eywa was gracious enough.

He wished he could hear how much you were enjoying yourself, if you were, and that he could hear the reciprocation. All this time, Jake had been watching and observing you, being attentive to every single movement you made. Every sound, every twitch of your limbs, every twist in your features, and every sign that told him how you were feeling.

It was the only way he'd know if you were okay throughout all of this and if you wanted to continue moving towards. Your eyes fluttered open and closed in between kisses, and you moved your hands to go around his shoulders, feeling the fire grow inside your body with every touch and every kiss.

Your mind was blank and so clouded right now, but in the best way possible, and with how your bodies were entangled right now, you knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon, and you didn't complain one bit. You reveled in it. Jake's hands were still on your cheeks and holding you as if you were made out of porcelain, as if he didn't want to break you, but you wanted him to know that you were ready for whatever he was ready for.

You knew he'd take care of you, and you trusted him with your life. He was your husband now, wasn't he? Your mate for the rest of your days, and you know in your heart you didn't make a mistake by choosing him, and that he would treasure you.

After what felt like hours of kissing already, Jake parted from your lips, and you frowned at the loss, making Jake chuckle. He simply wanted to pause for a second to stare down at you with stars in his eyes as his own thumb silently stroked your cheek and watched as the glowing freckles seemed to glow brighter for him tonight than ever before, all while you stared at him as if you hung the moon and the stars. With undying love for him.

His body shivered when he felt your hands around his neck, starting to drag across his skin, his back, making him smile brighter. He wanted to go further and go to uncharted places you've never allowed anyone else go to, and feel the honor of being chosen by you to do that, but only if you want to.

He then leaned down closer to you, letting his body be almost entirely on top of yours but not quite falling on you, and nuzzled his nose against your cheek, pressing a few fluttering and quick kisses against your soft, blue skin. "Has this been...okay?" He whispered breathlessly against your skin, and you smiled with a nod, closing your eyes and wrapping your arms around his neck tighter, bringing him closer to you. Jake then swallowed hard and decided to finally test the waters. He pressed another kiss to your cheek, this time letting it linger a bit more, and letting go with a soft 'pop'.

"And...what about this?" He whispered, letting his breath fan against your cheek. He dropped his other hand that was on your cheek and let it drop to your waist, but he didn't let it stay there. He slowly started to let it drift upwards, slowly and chillingly, until his fingers began brushing against your beaded top. You know exactly what he was trying to get at.

You turned your head to the side and made brief eye contact with Jake as he kept his nose and cheek on yours, and you nodded with half-lidded eyes. Jake then smirked, lightly lifting his head from yours but still keeping them just inches away from one another so that your noses still brushed against one another.

"And...this?" He whispered, with a feather-light tone, as he let his hand drift further and further, beneath your top until his hand brushed against your breast, lightly cupping it with his hand. He saw the way your closed eyes tightened together a bit more as your mouth fell agape, but nodded nonetheless.

Your chest started to heave noticeably, and you moved your head to bury your face in the crook of his neck, bringing him closer to you like a lifeline and digging your nails into his back, which made Jake inhale sharply. That was his cue to continue. You were driving him insane, and you didn't even know it.

Jake then decided to take the extra mile and use both of his hands, dragging his other hand upwards the same way he did the other; starting from your waist and then bringing it upwards with so much care until he had your hand on your other breast.

It did not take long for you to have a reaction; you immediately took your head out of Jake's neck and let it fall back onto the ground as your back lightly arched at the sensation, and Jake's smirk widened. He adjusted himself to be fully on top of you and realized that he must have done something right.

Jake, in his head, knew what he had to do, but as he promised to himself and to you before, he wanted to go slow and enjoy every second of this. He moved his hands to rest on your ribs instead, and then moved back to your neck and collarbone as he started peppering kisses all over your skin.

Your heart fluttered at how much he was taking care of you right now, and with every action he made, he expressed nothing but love and commitment through it. He had to admit that it was taking a lot of willpower not have his hands on every single place he wanted them to, but he'll get to them eventually.

He could see the contentment in your face every time he edged you on to a new place on your body he never ventured to before, and then continued to a new one. He's learning what you like, what you don't, and if bolder steps are what you want.

That first inching at your breasts was that first step towards knowing if you would be open to more, and now that you know that, Jake will know how to proceed with this. He knows in his head what he wants to do, but he just wants this to be a night you always remember and keep in your thoughts forever. Just as he will.

So, as you kept your arms around Jake's neck, he leaned down to connect his lips with yours yet again, and this time, it was filled with even more desire than the last, and you opened your mouth further to welcome every single movement of his lips against yours. Your hands moved from around his arms to go under his and then wrap them around his back, clutching onto him as Jake once again started to get more bold with every move he made.

He started to let his lips trail down from your lips, leaving you nearly breathless as you gasped silently. He went across your cheeks, your jaw, down your neck, and the expanse of your skin above your collarbone. Your head tilted back, giving him more access, and you held onto him tighter as your hands dug further into him. Your thoughts were cloudy, and all you could do was simply let your mouth fall agape yet again as your chest rose and fell erratically with sensations you couldn't express verbally.

When Jake began to lower his kisses a bit further up on your collarbone, staying in the same region, he found a spot to start sucking on, letting his teeth and tongue graze on it, making you arch your back yet again, loll your head to the side, giving Jake more access as you shut your eyes tighter.

Jake's smile widened when he realized what he'd found, and now that he did, he'd never forget it. He began to open his mouth further on the spot to suck on it, making your nails on his back dig further in, spurring Jake and letting him know that you were liking what he was doing very much.

He could physically feel the shivers and goosebumps going up and down your body, and you could feel Jake's smile against your skin as he kissed the spot he found that he would take note of for future reference. He felt a rush of pride go through him, and it made him curious about what other spots he could find. But he had no rush.

You had the rest of your lives to do that. He bit just the slightest bit harder, making your breath so erratic that he could start to hear small hints of your gasping next to his ear, because those are the only real sounds you could ever make. But hearing them this loud was spurring on something inside of him that he couldn't control.

After that, he decided to move forward, all while he continued to see how you reacted. Jake started to kiss down your body; your neck, collarbone, sternum, until he reached your chest again. A mischievous smile curled on his lips as he decided to use the information he got before.

He started to kiss your breasts over your chest, and the mere act of that made you start squirming underneath him as you let your hands drop from his neck and fall to the ground as you gripped the moss below you. He chuckled against your skin at your reaction and started to spread even more kisses over your skin.

Between the valley of your breasts, on the sides, over them, below them, and everywhere you allowed him to. When you eventually moved your hands to tangle in his hair again, Jake groaned against your skin and looked up at you with half-lidded eyes while you looked down at him with impatience and desperation.

"You okay?" He asked, and you looked down at him incredulously as if it wasn't obvious already. You were more than okay. You stared at him with a deadpan, despite a smile tugging at your lips, and Jake laughed as he stroked your sides up and down. "Well, sorry for asking, then," He said, and you tugged on his hair gently, as if to silently say that you were very much enjoying every minute of this and that you couldn't hide the heat that was gathering in every part of your body.

While Jake remained peppering your chest with kisses, he started to slowly reach a point where he wanted to know if you were okay with it. He let his fingers curl around your top and slowly started to lift it, and before he did it all the way and revealed a part of you that he felt has been reserved for his eyes only until this moment, he looked up and then moved to cup one of your cheeks to force you to look at him through your desire-fueled eyes, ones that mirrored his.

"Is...this okay, too?" He asked softly, merely above a whisper, and your face melted with fondness. You didn't hesitate at all in cupping his face as well with one of your hands and nodding. He had so much respect for you that he didn't allow himself to get carried away, as his body was yelling at him to do.

Jake smiled widely and leaned his head down to press his forehead against yours, breathing you in. "You're actually unreal, you know that?" He said lowly, and you leaned up to press your lips against his, and when he pulled away, he chased after your lips again until you were fully leaning back again.

With a firm nod from you for approval, Jake, little by little, started lifting your top, and with more skin that was revealed to him, the more he felt his heart get caught in his throat, and the less he knew how to function. You instinctively brought your hands up, and when Jake effectively pulled it off and set it off to the side so it wasn't ruined, all he could do was stare. You're absolutely undoing him.

He sucked in a breath once he saw the fully bare top half of your body, and the only thing remaining was the flower he gave you still tucked in your ear. You were sprawled out in front of him, hair spread out, eyes glowing with the bioluminescence and the night sky, your body's freckles glowing even brighter than ever, and your shy and bashful smile nearly making him fall apart right then and there.

You were drinking in the light of everything around you, even as the wind brushed your hair a bit and only seemed to be adding more to how addicting and ethereal you looked. You were now staring at him with so much expectancy and trust that it was destroying him. He was so whipped for you that he could barely keep it together

. You were absolutely alluring in every way possible. Your lips were swollen and glistening, and your pupils were blown wide. You were perfect, in every way that you've given him the pleasure of seeing. He leaned down again, and he nuzzled his nose against your cheek again, and in turn, you closed your eyes with a soft smile as you rubbed your face on his in reciprocation, wrapping your arms around him again.

He pressed yet another kiss to your cheek and murmured. "Fuck. You have no idea what you do to me," He said, completely enamored by you. And he hoped you knew that there was no other place that he'd rather be than right here by your side. You're wrecking him, and you dare to lie there so unbothered and innocent?

He pulled away from you and realized that he didn't want to beat around the bush anymore, and neither did you. Now that one obstacle was out of the way, he immediately leaned down, yet with new fire ignited in him, and slotted his lips against yours yet again. It was intense, urgent, sloppy, and full of desire that this time, you weren't sure you were able to keep up with him.

All of a sudden, when he started biting and licking at your lips, you felt heat start to shoot down below as unusual sensations started to bloom and spread from your chest, down your stomach, and to your lower body. You didn't know what that meant, but you welcomed it and let Jake take the lead.

When he eventually parted from your lips again, and you were left panting hard, you weren't given a chance to breathe when Jake took one of your breasts into your mouth, and in that moment, you wished you had a voice to express how good it felt. All you could do was let your back arch from the ground as you felt Jake's tongue swirl around and his nose graze against your skin.

You thought that alone was enough to unravel you, but when he used his other hand to start fondling the other one, you opened your mouth as if to let out a soft, yet silent moan, and you kept gasping in between as he kept repeating the same thing and then alternating, to give both of them the same treatment. And it didn't help when he stopped to talk you through it. "You have no idea how much I love you," He said helplessly as he kept peppering kisses everywhere around your skin.

He just couldn't get enough. He separated from your breasts for a second and went back to your lips in a deep and open-mouthed kiss that nearly made you melt in his arms as he secured his hands on your hips this time. You noticed he seemed to go even lower every time. First at your ribs, then your waist, and now at your hips, dangerously close to your thighs.

You reciprocated his kiss as best as you could, but the movement of his tongue against yours was making you nearly see stars. How was he so good at that? He stopped the kiss abruptly for a second, but still kept his lips brushing against yours. "I love you...I love you...damn it, I love you," He said over and over as he kept kissing you without stopping and pouring out his heart to you.

Heat started to gather behind your eyes, with happy tears, because you wished so badly you could reciprocate it in the same way that he was. So passionately, lovingly, and tenderly that it made you sad that you might never have a voice to say that to him. You hoped he knew it, though.

That you loved him with all your heart and that there was nothing that would change that. As he continued to kiss you, you suddenly felt a surge of impatience rush through you, and you started to tug on the items that he had on him. You began to cling to the holster that was across his chest, and Jake stopped kissing you for a second to see what you were trying to do.

His eyes darted back and forth between your shy gaze and your hands tugging on his holster on his chest, as if you were silently telling him to also take it off. Jake chuckled heartily as he realized what you were asking him, and he sat up on his knees to do just that as you remained on the ground, trying to absorb the sight in front of you.

"Alright, alright...I hear you," He said, swiftly taking off his holster and fully revealing his upper half to you. You've seen it countless times before, and it was usually something normal to the Na'vi, but now that he was here with the light of the Tree of Voices reflecting off of every muscle of his broad shoulders, chiseled chest and abdomen, built arms, you felt yourself inhale sharply as you boldly, yet shyly at the same time, lifted your hands up and gingerly pressed your three-fingered hands to brush against his chest.

When they did, you flinched slightly, as if you felt like you weren't allowed to touch him at all, but Jake refused to let you think that. His eyebrows furrowed, and he grabbed one of your hands again and put it on top of his chest, again making your entire face flush with heat. He lightly leaned down again towards you and let your nose brush against his. "This...is all yours," He said, smiling with a mix of smugness and tenderness, and he didn't stop there.

He used his free hand to put it on your side again and dragged his hand up and down your body. Your eyes never left his, and your entire body was filled with the same fire that had been building up since this began. "Just as this...is all mine," He said, referring to every inch of your body that you were giving him the honor of worshipping tonight.

As soon as he said that, Jake suddenly saw your eyes filled with a hunger can only be mirroring his, with so much lust that you could barely contain it inside, his grin grew bigger. Keeping his face inches away from yours, he moved his knee to be between your legs and nudged it right over your loincloth, and he saw your mouth fall agape as you raised a hand to grip his sculpted arms, as if it was your lifeline.

As much as you loved feeling Jake's lips on you, when he started kissing down from your neck, and then all day down the valley of your breasts, and now down your stomach, you were starting to wish that he would go a little quicker. You tightened your thighs around his leg to give him the message, and he hid a smirk against your skin.

You were getting antsy, and he knew that, but he was taking his time with you, and he knew that it'd be worth it in the end. He planted kiss after kiss on your stomach, everywhere he could find on your soft, blue skin, and when he stopped, and his breath fanned over it, you shivered again, and he spoke.

"You're just...breathtaking. Absolutely gorgeous, every part of you," He whispered, wanting to give you everything you wanted tonight with no questions asked, nearly throwing all of his original plans out the window when he continued to make his way down your body. When he started going down south and closer to the most vulnerable part of you, you felt your heart start to race even faster than ever before, up until now.

Jake was about to give up on making you wait because the more he got to discover new parts of you, the more he realized that it was harder to pretend you weren't driving him crazy. This just all felt far too good, but at the same time, what if it went by a lot faster than he thought it would, and the two of you don't get to enjoy it as much as he knows that you want to? It didn't help that your braids were still very much connected, and every sensation was amplified in a way that neither of you thought was possible.

He couldn't get enough of you, just as much as you couldn't get enough of him. He continued to just kiss up and down your body and worship every inch of your body, caressing your body as if it were the last time. Jake then crawled back up your body, held your waist with one hand, used the other to cup your cheek, and then, without any warning this time, he started moving his knee back and forth just under your loincloth, and he nearly lost it when he saw your hips start to chase after the feeling. He just couldn't contain himself, and he pressed his lips against yours yet again.

You immediately reciprocated and started to kiss him back as he fully towered over you, moved his knee back and forth, and felt you continue to grind against it. Just from seeing it, the way your body urged you to be with him, to connect in a way it never has with no other person before, and wanted to feel that unique connection and joining of bodies and souls you'll only ever have with him and only him, Jake could feel heat grow in the lower part of his body as well.

He could only let out soft groans at the feeling. There was officially no space left between the two of you right now, your chest pressed against his, your lips had not parted once, and the kisses had only gotten deeper and more erratic. He's done so much to make you feel good that you realized that you've barely done the same for him.

You parted from his lips again, wrapped your arms around his neck, and started to drift your lips down his cheeks and jaw until you got to his neck and started to kiss just as deeply as he was, all while biting and licking as fervently as he did. Jake's head fell against your neck, and he groaned loudly as he gripped your waist tighter, slowing down with his knee from how much you were taking over him and making him go numb in all ways. He couldn't even remember what he was doing last because you were making him unravel in every way possible. He couldn't think straight, and you weren't helping his case.

But when you paused in your kisses and looked down, across your nearly conjoined bodies pressed against each other, and saw how his loincloth had a bulge in it. This may be your first time, but you knew well what that meant. A grin tugged at your lips as you started to feel emboldened.

You reached down between your bodies and lightly tugged on Jake's loincloth as you continued to kiss his neck, and Jake lifted his head from your neck to look down at you with surprise. But when he saw the sparkle or glint in your eyes and followed where your hand was, he looked back at you and smirked again.

To him, your pleasure and happiness during moments like these would always go first, and as your first time together, this would not be the exception at all. He's been holding back all this time for your sake because he wants you to feel that satisfaction before he ever could. You both knew that you were getting closer and closer to the place that you both have been waiting and yearning to get to. Your thighs were tightening around his knee, wanting more friction desperately, begging for release and to be satiated.

Jake knew the moment that he looked into your eyes, and your eyes were glowing with a pleading glint behind them, that he couldn't afford to wait anymore. You've both waited long enough already, and now is the time to do everything you've both dreamed of.

With that in mind, leaned back on his knees and kept his eyes on you the entire time as he did so. He saw your breathing start to pick up and your chest rise and fall the moment you saw him start to reach around his loincloth to untie it. He saw the way you swallowed and sat yourself up on your elbows as your heart thundered against your ears, and you could hear it like drums beating against your ribs. Your body started to tremble with excitement, but also nervousness.

You'd already crossed the threshold of bonding, but that was painless. It was beautiful and soul-touching, but this? You've heard gossip from women in the clan, and you wondered if this was really happening right now. You wanted it to. Eywa, did you want to? But you wanted it to be just as good as you'd imagined it. Jake saw the seeds of worry planting in your gaze, and he reached over with one hand to cup your cheek again.

"Hey..look at me. It's okay," Jake assured gently, not wanting you to be afraid, because he knows this is your first time. He does know the fear that comes with it, but he would never dare to hurt you. Not in a million years, and he'd apologize for the rest of his days if he ever did.

You nodded, and your expression steeled as you saw Jake go back to untying his loincloth. The more they got exposed to you, the more your face flushed furiously. When he finally got it off all the way, all while you failed to keep your eyes glued to his, he was now completely bare in front of you, and the sight of it made your breath get caught in your throat as your eyes widened, all while desperation, desire, and longing all grew inside of you at the same time. This was really happening, now, right?

Jake saw the way you completely froze in front of him and watched as he set off his loincloth to the side. Your face was burning, and you didn't know where to look, but you did know what you wanted right now. And Jake knew it too. He smiled softly and started leaning forward towards you until he was hovering over you once again. He cupped your cheek and stroked your skin so gingerly that it nearly made you forget you were the only one wearing the last obstacle left between you two

"Let's have a safe word, okay? If it's too much, tap my arm. As many times as you want," Jake offered, and you stilled for a second again, but then nodded with a smile, loving how careful and attentive he was being. He knows you can't actually say anything if anything from here on out was too much, but he was giving you that.

Both of you were gazing so deeply into one another, golden eyes with golden eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt you during this, and as much as he's waited for this, he wouldn't let that cloud his judgment here. You were staring up at him now with a light flush on your face and light sweat glistening on your face as small breaths went in and out of your lips. How did you manage to look so utterly gorgeous? How dare you? Your eyes were glinting in the moonlight in a way that nearly made him faint right there.

He gave you one last look to give him the approval he needs to take this last step, until there are no barriers between the two of you. He saw you nod as you were suddenly filled with certainty behind your eyes. He lowered his lips to you again, kissed you as if it was the first time, and trailed his lips down your neck, the hollow of your throat as you tilted your head up to give him more access, and then he continued to use his lips to trail down your body, including the tip of his tongue to savor every part of you until he worked his way down your sternum, your breasts, your stomach, until he finally reached your loincloth.

He looked up at you and saw you looking down at him with a hazy expression in your gaze, with deep desire running through your eyes. Jake felt a shiver go through his body as he lifted your hips and, with the utmost care, started to untie them and then bring them down your legs. His mouth went dry at what he saw, and his insides began to stir.

The direct and visible result of you not being able to hold back what you felt for him. Jake could only feel every part inside him start to burn painfully with impatience that he was holding back for your sake, but he didn't know how much longer he'd last. As for you, your breath was now quickening with so much anticipation that you could hardly take it. Jake dragged your loincloth further down your legs, past your ankles, and then he tossed them to the side. This was eating you both alive. He has been treating you so well this whole time, and it wasn't going to stop now.

But before Jake did anything, he just had to stop for a second and admire you. He inhaled sharply at the breathtaking woman in front of him, his wife, who was completely bare in front of him at last, just as he was, and the sight alone of it was enough to send him down a spiral that felt never-ending.

All of a sudden, his mind was flooded with the need to just remain on top of you with your bodies as close as possible, as if your lives depended on it or you'd perish. As if it were necessary for his survival. You were a tempting vixen, a beautiful vixen that somehow made it impossible every passing day for him to keep his eyes and hands to himself, especially now more than ever.

When Jake looked up and tried to ignore every voice in his head that told him to take you right then and there, he met your half-lidded eyes. he genuinely thought he could drown in them. You sent him a single nod, inhaled sharply as you sent him a warm smile. You trusted him with your life, and this was no different. This wasn't going to be any different. Who knew that this was where the two of you would end up? Jake would not have it any other way, and neither would you.

Not wanting to beat around the bush anymore, in one quick swoop, Jake's mouth landed right between her legs, and he groaned loudly against you, echoing through your entire body. Your entire body writhed underneath him as your face twisted with pleasure and you squirmed in his touch. He flattened his tongue and began to suck, and when Jake heard soft gasps from your end, he knew he was doing something right. He couldn't believe how good this felt.

His groans sent vibrations through his body as he began to suck, and it made your legs start to shake so much that Jake had to put an arm over your hips to stop you from moving so much. Your legs were tightening around his head, though. You reached your hands down as you began to bury your hands in his hair and started to tug on them, making him pick up the pace. And from your body language, Jake hasn't done a single thing that has not made you feel like you were in heaven or on cloud nine.

This was better than either Jake or you could have ever imagined. And to add to it, Jake decided to add two of his fingers into the mix, and as soon as he did, your mouth dropped open as if you'd yelped, and you gripped his hair tighter. Tears were gathering in your eyes at how unbelievably good this all felt, and you couldn't handle it. Your vision was tunneling and becoming white at how good he was at this.

Jake moved your thighs so that they were on top of his shoulders, and he continued his combo of mouth and fingers in circles until you became completely undone for him. As of now, you were continuing to writhe and squirm under her grasp as he sped up, and for the first time, Jake was witnessing you getting close. And you knew it too.

You began to tap Jake on his arm as he'd told you, and in a second, he'd pulled his mouth away from you and looked up at you with concern. Had done anything wrong? You whined silently at the loss of contact, but the heat pooling in your lower region was still there. "Y/n. What's wrong?" He asked gently, and you began to sign frantically to him from where he could see you as your eyes widened with confusion.

Your body ached, but it was not painful, it was not bad, and it was not uncomfortable. It was just very... foreign. "Ma Jake...I feel strange. What is happening?" You signed, and after that, it clicked in Jake's head. He knew what was going on here. He smiled and licked his lips, and prepared himself to go back down and help you reach that point of pleasure that you'd experience for the first time.

"It's okay, baby. Just let it happen," He said breathlessly, and smugly, and dove back in without warning you, and once again, your reaction was instant. You didn't even have time to react to that new nickname of his as your legs started to shake once Jake's fingers and tongue worked fast and in unison. You felt like you were about to be thrown over the edge; the feeling was hot and blinding, while also incredibly satisfying at the same time, and you've never felt anything like it.

Jake pushed his tongue even deeper until he couldn't go any further, not wanting to ever forget this ever happened, and he's able to leave a mark on you. Prove the two of you were ever here together, in the Tree of Voices, proving your love before Eywa.

You threw your head back again as your mouth fell open at the pleasure coursing through your body right now, feeling it climb higher and higher until it felt like it was about to reach a boiling point. You were seeing white, and your eyes rolled back to the back of your head as the coil inside of you finally snapped, and your release washed over you overwhelmingly.

As your body went limp against Jake and you fell back down into the ground, you closed your eyes and panted softly, not noticing the way that Jake was crawling back up to you, grabbing both of your hands and intertwining them together as he put them on the top of your head. He saw the way you tightened your hands around his, but still kept your eyes closed. He leaned down and kissed every part of your face he could find. You were a sight to behold.

Your face was damp with sweat and glistening angelically, some baby hairs were sticking to your face, your lips were still swollen and parted from how much you were panting and as you slowly opened your eyes, Jake saw the way your eyes had this haze to them combined with a slight curve to your eyelids as you smiled lightly and your cheekbones created an eye-smile.

"You're mine," Jake started as he kissed one cheek, and you nodded numbly. He went to your other cheek and kissed it just as sweetly. "And I'm yours," He continued as you nodded again, seemingly in a trance but understanding every word and allowing butterflies to swarm your belly.

"All of me," He finalized and pressed his lips against yours again so you could taste yourself, something you'd never done before in your life. But despite that, you kissed him back with the energy you were slowly getting back. Jake felt pride rising inside him. He was the only one who could ever make you feel this way. He knows in his heart that he can't live without you.

And how he was about to prove it to you. But before that, he would remind you right here, now that he would not stop caring for you, especially now. He wanted you to remember this. Every part of it. Because God knows he will. He pecked your lips again, and your hands gripped his tighter, knowing what was about to happen.

"Remember, let me know if it's too much, and we can stop. I'll go slow. Kiss me if it hurts," He said with so much devotion in his voice that it nearly made you crumble. Your eyes softened, and you let go of one of his hands to sign, earnestly and meaningfully. "You could never hurt me," You signed, letting him know that there is nothing in this world that could ever penetrate deep enough like his love for you has.

With one more deep and firm kiss, the two of you conjoined your hands together again. You could feel him poking against your thigh, and you couldn't help but shudder and feel all sanity evaporate from your body. He angled himself on top of you, nudging your thighs gently apart.

He gave you one last look of reassurance, and you nodded at him firmly, letting him know that you were more than ready for this. Ready for him to be a part of you in a way he hasn't yet. After a few seconds of anticipation, you swallowed hard as you felt a pang in your gut and tried to prepare yourself.

Jake lowered his lips to yours, and you kissed him back eagerly, and with one swift movement, you felt Jake slide inside you. Instantly, you parted from the kiss and gasped silently as you threw your head back and then gripped his hands with a death-grip at how painful the initial sting was. Jake tucked his head into your neck and began to spread light kisses as he continued to push himself even more and felt your body stretch around him.

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly as you tilted your head back and leaned your head to the side against his. You let go of one of his hands and wrapped your arm around his neck, bringing him even closer to you. Jake couldn't exactly tell how much this was affecting him. He was letting out low groans against your skin, but tried to focus on your comfort first before himself.

He was watching your reactions intently, how your body was reacting, and how you were taking him, and trying to guide himself around that. He started kissing everywhere he could find. Your neck, collarbone, jaw, cheeks, sternum, and every other part of you are in his reach. Your breathing was becoming more labored, and your eyes were closed shut as you tried to breathe through the pain until it morphed to pleasure, but that moment hadn't quite come yet, so you were patient.

Jake, on the other hand, felt like he was running out of patience. He felt like he was in heaven, like you were made for him. How did you fit around him so perfectly in a way no one else has? It felt like a puzzle piece locking right into place, and before this, he felt like he couldn't fall deeper in love with you, but he knows he just did. He wanted to move first, but he wanted to wait for you first. He couldn't be greedy.

"Fuck, you feel so good, baby. No one else touches you like this, huh? I've got you," He whispered huskily against your ear, and you smiled tiredly at his words, feeling those same butterflies swarm your stomach yet again. You could get used to him calling you that. It just felt so, so right. Being with him right here felt so right, and Jake could feel it too.

He felt the same way. After a few seconds, once Jake saw your breathing slow down, and contentment show in your face, he took that as his chance to continue. "Ready?" He said breathily, and you quickly nodded, preparing for what you were about to feel. Once Jake started to move, your mouth dropped in a silent yelp, and you let go of your other hand, gripping his to move both of your hands to be on his back and cling to him. You buried your head in his neck and bit the skin to hopefully ride out the pain. Jake let out a low breath at this and moved to grip your hips tightly as he continued to move slowly, trying to keep up a steady rhythm.

He could feel your chest rising and falling faster than ever before, labored and choppy as you tried to breathe through it. You moved your head away from his neck and did exactly as he'd told you, and you slotted your lips against his in a firm kiss. He reciprocated, kissed you back, and tightened his grip on your hips so hard that he was sure that there would be a mark.

He knows that you must be hurting right now, but he knows that it's all up to letting time pass until the pain isn't there anymore. With every rock of his hips, you gripped his back tighter and dug your nails into his skin, making him hiss lightly out of pain and pleasure alike. But as he continued to move more and gradually picked up speed in a way that you could handle, he saw that your expression morphed from distress to one of contentment.

The pain was lessening now, thankfully, and while you were still clutching to him and kissing him fervently, your hands were smoothing over the nail dents you made on his back as a silent apology. You parted from Jake's's lips when your mouth went agape to emit silent moans as your face twisted with delight at what you were feeling.

Jake moved his hands from being on your hips to taking yours on his and intertwined them again above your head. You instinctively wrapped your legs around Jake's waist and brought him closer to you as his speed picked up, making Jake groan lowly as he tucked his face in your neck and began to nip at your skin with his canines, but soothing them with his lips afterwards. Once you begin to recognize a pace, you begin to move your hips against his as well, joining him.

The only thing that was starting to be heard right now was your joined heavy breathing, Jake's groans, sounds of skin against skin, and the rustling of the moss below as the two of you shifted against it. Your bodies were damp with sweat, but neither of you cared. You were so into each other that the two of you failed to notice how Atokirina began to float down to hover above the two of you with a serenity that compared to how intense the scene was below.

Once Jake started to see the way that you began to join him, he chuckled tiredly against your neck and spoke. "Yeah...just like that. Don't stop," He said, and you nodded as you swallowed, obliging with him and not letting up. But after a few seconds, Jake felt a lightbulb go off in his head. He untangled his hands from yours for a second, you shifted them to be around his shoulders again, and then shifted both of them to be on your waist without breaking his rhythm with you.

And in one swift movement, he moved the two of you be on your sides, and Jake picked up the pace as you clung onto him harder, clutching onto his skin for dear life as you tried to move your body against his as best as you could. Your face was in his neck again, as if it was your safe space, and so he couldn't see how your face had unraveled to utter pleasure.

And you thought this would be it, but what you didn't expect was when he took one hand off of your waist and brought it between your legs and pressed down on your most sensitive spot, that bundle of nerves down south, forcing you to tear your face away from his neck and throw your head back as you started to squirm in his hold.

Your legs clenched tighter around him, and after a few seconds, once again, you started to feel heat pooling in your nether region, and Jake felt this. He knew what was happening before you did. So, he started to pick up the pace even more, and he could feel your desperation for release.

He leaned forward and captured your lips together as your bodies continued to rock together, and he saw your breathing become even more erratic, helpless, and harder to control inside of you. "Hold on for me, okay?" He reassured, despite how heavy his breathing is right now. He had to guide you through it because he knew this one was bigger than the last one from before.

He could see that it was becoming harder to control. But he didn't want you to control it. He wanted you to let go completely and not hold back. He started to move faster, and you could feel every single sensation starting to culminate in one place. It felt like you would burst into pieces any second now.

Jake then pressed his lips to yours one last time as everything felt like it was about to start crashing down, and your back arched into him, and your mouth opened into a scream that you wished you had a voice for to express how good it felt. You were losing your mind for him. Jake knew that you reached your breaking point, and the rhythm that you both had now was sloppy, but it was fast all the same.

This current angle he had you in was making you see stars, and you could barely keep up anymore. That same tight coil that you felt before felt like it was about to release. You and Jake opened your mouths during the kiss at the same time, breathing heavily into each other as he felt that he was also reaching his high. He didn't want you to be scared and was trying to make sure you finished first before he did. He could feel that you would not last much longer, now that you clenched down on him. The bond was making this sensation feel 10 times more euphoric than ever.

Once again, your nails started to dig into his shoulder as if it was the only thing keeping you afloat right now, but it only encouraged Jake to continue thrusting until he couldn't anymore. He began to kiss your neck as you lolled your head to the side, and it was becoming all too much for you. His kisses, his body rocking against yours, his breathing against your skin, his hand still toying with you below; you don't know how you've lasted this long, but all you know is that you never wanted it to stop.

The moment you eventually felt like your vision had gone white, and your thighs began to shake around him, you reached a point where you had to let go. And when you did, utter pleasure washed over you, and you threw your head back again, and you felt Jake come at the same time as you as he spilled inside of you just as you did on him. It only took a few seconds after that for Jake to slow down as a groan bubbled in his throat, and he'd reached his end.

Jake fell onto his back, and using the hand he still had on your waist, he brought you onto him so that your head lay on his chest and half of your body was sprawled onto him. The Tree of Voices was filled with the sounds of both of your heavy and labored breaths as the night air brushed and wafted through your sweaty bodies together. Nothing was said for a few seconds.

You wrapped your arm tighter around Jake's midsection, you used his arm under your head as a pillow, you tucked your head into his chest as you nuzzled your nose into his skin, and you hiked your thigh higher up onto his body. Jake tightened his arm around your waist, leaned his head down to kiss the crown of your head, and used his free hand to conjoin it with yours that was across his body, intertwining them together blindly, as if it was second nature to you both.

Jake allowed himself to grin from ear to ear when he realized what just happened. You'd enjoyed yourself just as much as he had, and that's all he hoped would come out of this. A few beats passed, and Jake let go of your hand and then used it to put it on your chin to tip it up so that you faced him. Your eyes opened, and you looked at him so earnestly and with so much love that he nearly combusted right then and there all over again.

He dragged a hand down his face as he chuckled and cupped your cheek, lovingly stroking it. "Please...don't look at me like that," He whispered, and you couldn't help but giggle silently and endearingly, even through your pants. He brought your face closer to his, and he pressed his lips against yours, in a way that felt like it had an entirely different meaning now. When he pulled away, he couldn't erase the smile that was plaguing his whole face, chasing after you for more kisses.

After that, he simply stared at you like he couldn't believe you were real. That you were his wife now, that you would walk together through life and face any challenges that came your way, together. No matter what. What did he do to deserve such a blessing when all he's felt is that he doesn't deserve you at all? Your kind nature, your beauty, how understanding you are, and so many attributes that he felt like he constantly felt like he wasn't worthy of receiving, but tonight, something solidified that changed that old mentality into a different one.

One that would help him to continue to change for you, until he's better for you. He smiled brighter and brought you closer to him. "Come here," He murmured, and your expression got brighter as Jake maneuvered you so that the two of you were spooning. He was behind you with his chest pressed against your back, wrapping his arm tightly around your waist and tucking it there as if you were to disappear right then and there.

You then settled against his hold and took his hands in yours, using his arm as a pillow, and settled yourself in as if it was the safest place in the world. And in that moment, once reality finally set in, you felt heat gather behind your eyes with happy tears as you finally came to the realization that the bond had been made, Eywa approved of it, and there was nothing that could ever tear you both apart now. You were bonded for life, and the Great Mother had been there to witness a beautiful union.

You tried your best to hide how emotional you were right now, but when Jake felt your body start to shake, he panicked. He slowly untucked his head away from your neck from the kisses he'd been pressing there, and then used his hand to tip your head to look at him again. Once he saw your glassy eyes, Jake helped you to move onto your back as he cupped your cheek, stroked your skin, and looked at you with concern. Had he done something wrong?

Something to upset you? "Hey...hey, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?" He spoke so tenderly that it only brought more tears to your eyes. You shook your head and adjusted yourself so that you were on your side now and faced him, face to face. You reached up and cupped his face with a feathe-light touch just as he did with you before and smiled tearily.

"No. No...I just....I love you so much, Jake. Thank you for being here with me," You signed with your free hand, and Jake froze, but then let the biggest of smiles come through his face as he felt himself getting choked up all of a sudden, too. He leaned forward and kissed you deeply, and after a few seconds, he parted and spoke in a voice only you could hear. Those words were reserved for you and you only. "I love you, too. So much, Y/n," He breathed out, and you couldn't help but finally let those tears fall as you continued to smile brightly, and Jake was there to wipe them off in an instant.

You didn't hesitate in wrapping your arms around Jake's midsection, intertwining his legs with yours, and tucked your head in his neck. You exhaled deeply with security, and Jake wrapped both of his arms around your waist. After that, the forest settled into a stillness as the breeze brushed against the Tree of Voices, nearly lulling you to sleep.

The glow of the forest was now dimmed to a soft yet steady pulse, as if it was starting to mirror yours and Jake's heartbeats together in unison. You could hear the faint babbling brook and the waterfall nearby, all while insects and different wildlife seemed to be thriving in the background. It was perfect. You lay there, curled against Jake's chest, his arms staying secure around your waist as if to prepare for anyone who dared to come and take you away from him.

Your kurus were both still connected with his, and your tails were intertwined with each other's legs. The Tsaheylu was still echoing in both of your minds, lingering with a beautiful warmth that neither of you wanted to let go of. You didn't allow yourself to fall asleep. You didn't want this to end yet. You took one of your hands from around his neck and then brought it to his chest as you began to innocently trace the stripes on his body slowly and with care, feeling his heartbeat beneath your fingertips. It was fast but also steady.

Your touch alone was capable of doing that. Jake tried his best not to smile as he tilted his head up so you wouldn't see how much of an effect you had on him,  as he felt shivers go up and down his body. His hands were currently occupying your hair as he threaded his fingers through your silky locks, as if it were the most natural thing he could do.

But other than that, all Jake could do was think. He doesn't regret any part of this. Not one part of it, and he meant what he said. They'd have to pry him out of his Avatar body before he ever thought about leaving you, and now that the bond was made, he would fight like hell to stay here with you. Here you were, lying with him as if you belonged there, and there was no doubt about that.

But while he knows that, that he won't leave Pandora no matter how much they try to force him out pr try to send him back, reality is starting to crash down on him now that your night together would be over in the blink of an eye the second you both went to sleep. He began to think and let the same chain of thoughts reenter his brain; Would you still look at him the way you did tonight once you find out what he did? What has he lied to you about for weeks on end? Would you still look at him with that same love and devotion?

Would you ever forgive him? Tonight had been his only opportunity to let go of everything, forget about his guilt, leave behind his burdens, and just let himself be happy with you. The guilt that has been eating him alive and swallowing him whole for weeks, and for just a little bit, he had the best night he's had in a long time, and created a bond and connection he never thought he'd have with someone before, and he has never been more grateful that it's with you. He feels like a thief because you chose him, but based on lies. The thought of that has been plaguing him, and its unbelivable unbearable. He just wanted to live in bliss for as long as he could, as selfish as it sounds.

He continued to feel you trace and draw on his skin as he stared up at the canopy, replaying every memory he's made with you for the last three months, and even what he just did with you just now. You stared at him as if he could do you no wrong, and with so much trust, joy, and certainty that you two would be together forever, even after death, when you're both with Eywa.

He knew from the start that Na'vi do not mate lightly. It goes so much deeper than love; it's destiny, soul-binding, and sacred. Something that you believed Jake would honor. And that happened tonight, all with Eywa's blessing.  Don't get him wrong, he would do everything to be the kind of mate that you deserved, but he knows he already failed before the bond was even made.

You were bound to someone who's been lying to you. At the thought of that, he curls one hand around your back, and he holds you tighter, as if keeping you close might make the truth evaporate. You shifted and scooted closer to him. His chest constricted painfully at that. He leaned down to press his lips to your hair and breathed you in as if it was the last time he'd ever get to do it.

Memorizing this moment as if this was a ghost of a memory. Just a little longer...please. Just let me pretend a little longer. Let me have her in my arms for a little longer. Before I forget what it feels like. Jake begged silently and hoped that Eywa was listening. But the forest doesn't pretend. The Great Mother doesn't either. Neither will you, when you find out. Jake closed his eyes and held you as if he could protect you from himself.

You knew you had no right to say what he could or couldn't do, but you just hoped that he did without you asking. Those were all of the things that you've gotten used to doing together over the span of 3 months now, and that you hope don't change when he realizes that so many opportunities are about to open up to him. So many doors that would help him choose his own path, that you deeply wanted to be a part of.

You don't miss the way many of the women in the clan look at him sometimes, or the way they try to approach him to talk to him, and now that he was officially Omaticaya, you could see in the corner of your eye how many of them were starting to crowd around him giggling and laughing as he tried to be polite and answer all of their questions.

You weren't there with him right now because you'd told him that you needed to step away from him for a second to go get something. You knew that you should be right there with him, celebrating his milestone but you had a much better idea in mind for that. So, you decided to quickly run off and head up the spiral of Hometree, and where you needed to go.

Jake saw you leave, and he was about to chase after you, but the Na'vi crowding him blocked his path, and he smiled at them apologetically as he continued to talk to them, continuing to glance at where you ran off to. As for you, the moment you left and reached your family's quarters, where you kept all of your family's belongings, you began to start rummaging around with giddiness in your movements and your expression. You were for one thing, and one thing only.

You continued to search through baskets, knitted bags, small chests, and so on. All were where you kept your own personal items. It was only after a few seconds that you finally found it, and you beamed at it brightly. It was the flower that Jake gave you a few weeks ago in the Hallelujah Mountains, and you found a way to preserve it pretty well. You pulled it out of the basket and then tucked it in your ear gently, remembering the moment that Jake did it for the first time.

You were smiling from ear to ear and nearly bouncing in place from how happy you were tonight. When the flower was secure in your ear, you started to fix your hair right where you stood, and started adding any accessory you could find. You were feeling more excited and confident the more time you spent getting ready, imagining Jake's reaction the moment he saw you, taking him into the forest, and finally doing what you've been wanting for so long. Now that he passed his Uniltaron, there were no barriers between you two except the mystery of possible unrequited feelings. It was the thing plaguing your mind.

Nothing was stopping you tonight either. You felt more determined than ever; ever since that talk with Jake in the mountains, you made your decision on your own about whether or not you wanted to be Tsahik, and if you did end up choosing that path, you didn't have to be mated to Tsu'tey to continue that, and it would not stop him from being Olo'eyktan. You don't think you've ever decided about something so clearly before, but you knew it was what you wanted, and you would not look back or hesitate. You were going to make how you felt known. And one thing you knew your gut wasn't wrong about from the very beginning was how certain you were that Jake felt the same way and that he reciprocated it. And in the scenario you were wrong...then that would be a situation you wouldn't know how to move on from.

You know for certain that you have never felt this way before, ever. And you know that Jake is the one. The one destined for you. Despite any roles, rules, or norms that might disagree. And there was one thing in your own body that told you that this is something you must act on. Just the fact that you felt your stomach stir the moment that you saw him talk to other women raised a lot of alarms inside of you, and it made your stomach twist uncomfortably. You knew that everything that you've lived together has meant something, and you know it's meant something to him as well.

You just couldn't have imagined any of it, could you? Every longing gaze you pretended didn't mean anything more, the touches from him that lingered more than they were supposed to, the way your souls seemed to converge from just looking into each other's eyes, the way you two can just wordlessly and easily communicate with each other on land and air alike, so many more examples. You don't think anyone so perfect would stumble into your life the way he did, but it did, and you didn't want to let it slip.

You were going to do something about it tonight, because your entire life, you've let yourself fall into a pit of doubt that has held you back from things you have always wanted to do, in fear of what others might say, think, or do if you follow what your heart tells you. You just didn't want to wait any longer. The fact that he spent time on his own after you two went to bed, and he went back to his human body, learning sign language to understand you, should've been enough for you to realize right then and there he's the one you want to be with and no one else. You did not doubt it for one second, but you were still bracing yourself for any possibility of what turns this night might take.

You look to the future, and you see him. You see Tsu'tey in your future, but not as your mate. You wanted him to continue being your friend. There were no feelings between you two, and there have never been. He's just been looking over you and Neytiri for a long time, and he knows that being Olo'eyktan will allow him to protect you both in the best possible way. That union was decided for you both in a way that was strictly political and traditional, not out of love.

And as for Jake, you looked out into the future and saw warmth, love, devotion, growth, loyalty, and connection. Its the path you know is meant for you and that you didn't want to give up. You want to give it a chance, and hopefully, he's been feeling the same way you have, despite you knowing that you're doing this at all will be one of the most rebellious things you've ever done.

You kept all of those thoughts drifting back and forth in your head until you finished getting ready, and when you felt like you were ready at last, you took one long breath, smoothed out your hair and stood up, You left your family's quarters, all while your smile never left your face and you had quite a pep in your step too. You could feel people staring at you with confusion at what had you so happy, but you were far too happy to care right now. You were on a mission, and you wanted to find Jake right now. That overpowered any stare sent your way.

You started to make your way down the spiral, and in that moment, you realized just how quiet the forest was tonight. It was as if it was doing it just for you, as if it was on your side to have the freedom to say what you've been wanting to express for a while. As you made your way down, the scattered bioluminescent plants pulsed faintly underneath your feet, and you were so entranced by it that you didn't notice a figure walking towards you with controlled, steady, and measured footsteps.

Your instincts immediately made you look up, and you saw your father walking towards you, his face gentle with a smile as he noticed how giddy you looked. You came to a stop and then stood up straighter, raising a hand to tuck a hair behind your ear, and then put your hands behind your back as you looked at him with nothing but respect. But your father had already caught your moment of utter, unadulterated excitement that he did not know the cause of, but didn't question it. He was just happy to see you so happy nowadays.

A state he hasn't seen you in for a very long time. Eytukan stopped in front of you and then gazed at you so tenderly and lovingly, at his younger daughter, who he knew was growing up right before his eyes, saddening him. "Ma'ite," He said in Na'vi as he stopped right in front of you, and your smile grew, as tiny little dimples appeared on your cheeks from how shy you suddenly got. But he hoped you knew that you didn't have to be nervous around him. That you didn't have to be so formal either. He was your father, and he's known you from the moment you were born. He knows you.

You could hear nothing but distant sounds of laughter and voices from the clan as joy drifted through the air. Everyone was happy, celebrating, but for now, it was just you and him right now. Father and daughter together. He had his hands clasped behind his back as his tail swayed behind him thoughtfully, as opposed to yours, which betrayed how happy you really were, flicking happily behind you. He chuckled at the sight "Where are you headed, daughter?" He asked you, and you were at a loss for words. You couldn't exactly tell him where you were going right now with Jake. Your father didn't need to know that.

" ...nowhere," You signed, and he narrowed his eyes playfully at you and leaned forward towards you. "You think I cannot see how fast you were walking?" He said, and you felt your face flush. You didn't expect him not to notice, but for him to bring it up was something else entirely. You began to kick a few pebbles on the ground as you avoided eye contact with him. "I was not walking fast..." You signed meekly and with embarrassment, and Eytukan chuckled. You could not hide anything from him, especially because you wore your heart on your sleeve, and he could see right through you. You've never been good at pretending.

"You are, and there is nothing wrong with that. You've always been a curious and joyful girl since you were a baby, and you still are. Always wanting to know more," He said, and you exhaled as you realized you were getting the same words that Neytiri always said to you, out of love, of course. But to your family, they would never stop seeing you as the baby of the family. Someone they'd love and protect unconditionally. "I am not a baby anymore, Father," You signed, and that didn't erase the fondness in Eytukan's eyes, not even a little bit. In fact, it only made it grow even more. Behind them lay a twinge of something bittersweet.

There was a time you used to be so excited to run to him and Mo'at to tell them about anything; about something you found in the forest, something you got excited about, what you'd learned during training with Neytiri, new accomplishments, and so on. But now that you're all grown up, distance and a gap was growing between you.

He'd been wanting to mend it. He reached over and put a hand on your shoulder as he looked at you with an expression that showed how much he realized in that moment that his little girl didn't need him anymore, and that he blinked, and you were already just so autonomous and independent that it feels like there's nothing else he had to teach you.

"I know. And it made me realize you grew up right before my eyes," He said, and your face fell in a second. He has been meaning to say this to you recently, but you have been in and out of Hometree before the sun goes up and down every day, before he even gets a chance to catch you on your way. Sometimes he wonders if setting such expectations when you were young about who you were supposed to be, who the rest of the clan expected you to grow up to be, made you drift away faster than any other kid would. The fact that you weren't even given a chance to find yourself and who you wanted to be on your own was something that Eytukan regrets every day, and he and Mo'at talked about it often. Perhaps it wasn't that at all, and maybe you were just growing at a normal pace now, and it seems like you were growing so much faster because you're being as liberated as you've always wanted to be.

"I have not spent time with you lately, have I?" He said, and you immediately shook your head in denial, putting your hand over his, squeezing him, and reassuring him that it will never be too late for the two of you to spend time together. No reason it couldn't be mended. "Father-" You signed to him with your free hand, but he held up his hand, cutting you off. He had more to say, and he had to get this out. He has been seing you come out of your shell, one that you created around yourself after what happened at the school, and he had an inkling he owed it to Jake. Or maybe you owed it to no one but yourself for being able to fight through what ailed you so much and overcoming it.

He sees you spending every waking moment with Jake, though, and how much he lights you up in a way he hasn't seen since you were an innocent little girl with so much hope for the world. You are finding what you like, what you don't like, who you want to be with, your best skills, what makes you happy, what makes you upset, and you're doing it all on your own. As if you were finally feeling like your own person. It was almost as if he felt like he missed it all trying to fulfill being Olo'eyktan, and he feels like he did it not just with you but with Neytiri as well. He put duty and leadership before family in many instances and he wants to fix it.

He knew you were supposed to be Tsahik, and it was predetermined since you were a child and the elders saw it as a divine message from the Great Mother that you would bring a new era and method of leading The People with an 'unmatched connection' as they put it, but the thing is that he doesn't want you to end up like him if you ever have kids. He hopes you never miss those special moments that he's missed with you, because he tried to please everyone and be a good leader, and tried to fulfill tradition. He became Olo'eyktan for his strength and reliability, and so will Tsu'tey now. He wants you to live for yourself, and he never got to say it to you before because he never knew how, but now he is, and he hopes you're listening to all of it.

Even if he missed certain moments in life together, Eytukan knows that from him you inherited security, tenacity, strength, and reliability. All good qualities, he wished he could have seen develop from the start, and see it develop over time. You're so self-sufficient and resilient, not even caring who you were compared to, not caring what expectations were put on you, and not caring about the whispers whenever you did something the rest did not approve of because it didn't align with 'your destined path'. You were doing everything for yourself, and that's the way it should be.

"It is not your fault. It is mine. You are now discovering who you are, and I knew that you would start to drift away as you found your place in life," He said, and your eyes became torn and saddened at his words. You had no idea he felt this way, but you never knew that the one person who always seemed to be 'too busy' was somehow turning out to be one of the ones who understood you the most. You wished you knew if Neytiri and your mother felt the same, and you would feel complete at last.

After Tsu'tey knows as well, everyone most dear to you will finally know of your decisions of where you want to lead your life, a life that Eywa would be proud of, and hopefully respect it just as your father does in this moment. You never knew how much you needed this, but you were welcoming it with open arms. He looked at you as if you were still the little girl who used to follow him everywhere and tried her best to meet everyone's expectations while never worrying about her own needs, and he regrets not having done anything about it sooner.

"You were never truly a child. Always trying to please everyone, thinking about everyone but yourself to avoid whispers, making the clan happy, training every day from dusk until dawn with your sister, and now I know that your kind heart never once changed. You accepted those Sky People for what they were, not who made mistakes before them, and I couldn't be prouder," He said, and all you could do was stare at your father in shock, eyes wide and teary as you finally started to see how he's felt all this time. You knew he had big responsibilities even as a kid, and that was no life for a child, and it never was.

So did your mother and your father. But instead of just allowing yourself to feel tossed to the side, you tried to join them and feel useful in the way you felt that they needed you to. In the process, you didn't even realize you lost your childhood trying to live up to the title you'd eventually be given and were told would be the best for the clan, so that they would be well guided. You haven't even been brave enough to continue following the pulls you began to feel towards the forest, which started when you were a kid and are only stronger now that you're older.

Part of you is terrified of what you might find on the other side of that. You suppose it's why it hit you so hard when it all crumbled in a second, a lot faster than you ever thought it could after you thought you'd made so much progress, and you began to feel like you'd lost the respect of everyone that you worked so hard to build up. But that made you realize that every single step forward could also be a step back before you even notice, and it would be just as fleeting as the first time around.

Eytukan should have realized it was too much for a kid to handle on her own. "But...in the midst of all of that, I realized I see you less now," Your father continued, and you were silent for a few seconds. You didn't even know how to respond to that. As if it was second nature, all you could do was allow yourself to feel apologetic for feeling like you disappointed yet another person you didn't know was hurting all this time.

"I didn't mean to...I didn't mean to stray so far away from you, or from mother," You signed sadly, not knowing what else you could say. Eytukan shook his head yet again and then gripped your shoulder tighter. He used that hand to bring you closer to him, until you were pressed against him, and you instinctively nuzzled against him. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, and all you could do was grow closer to him as you closed your eyes and wrapped your arms tighter around him. Eventually, you heard his voice again.

"You do not need to be sorry. You'll never stray far from me, and I will always be your father. Even when you were small, and you never let not having a voice hold you back from moving forward, you were already carrying such a big responsibility on yourself; you were happy to just trail behind me like a shadow because you were so eager to learn. You followed your mother to meetings with elders, you sat beside me during council meetings, and asked endless questions and never wanted to stop learning," He said, and you had to fight from tears falling down your cheeks.

Like many, he had been wary of Jake and what he would bring, but the way you guided him through every part of being Na'vi, with so much love and devotion in everything you did, he started to see what you did. You slowly pulled yourself away from him, but still close enough that you could bring him in for another hug.

"I am still here, Father. You have not lost me," You signed, as your teary eyes were suddenly filled with so much certainty behind them, promising and vowing that you would never let another moment slip away again. He saw that message clear as day, and chuckled with amusement. You were still as determined as you've always been.

"Yes, but I have had a hard time coming to terms with you not being a child anymore that had so much to learn, and that you are now a strong warrior and hunter with nothing else to be taught," He added, and you continued to pay special attention to everything he was saying. If he felt this way, is it possible your mother and Neytiri did too?

You loved your mother and your sister more than life itself, but up until a few weeks ago, you were terrified of letting them down and doing exactly the opposite of what they expected of you, along with the rest of the clan. But now you were starting to see things differently.

Maybe they've been holding all of this back as well because they still think it's what you want to do, and your father was telling you this now because he can tell from more than a mile away that this is not the future you want. "You have a gift many of our people have not been able to master; a special connection with Sky People. The elders might have been wrong about you only being able to be the bridge with Eywa and a peacemaker with Sky People, only through being a Tsahik. It seems like you're a part of them in your own way now, and I couldn't be prouder," He said, and then looked behind him out into the village and gestured with his head to Jake speaking to Grace from afar as they laughed and talked, unaware of the pair of eyes on them.

You smiled to yourself and then looked back up at your father. "You trained him very well, daughter," He said, and you shrugged, not wanting to possibly take all the credit for Jake's accomplishments. "It was not just me. He worked very hard to get here," You said, just as you shook your head. If it weren't for Jake's willingness, determination, and his own sense of self, he would've never made it to where he is. You only gave him the material and the guidance to get through it. Eytukan heard you and hummed, but at the same time, he disagreed with that premise.

He saw it a different way. Your way of supporting him was what pushed him forward. "That is true. But he would not have gotten this far if it were not for you, and you guided him without judgment when most doubted him. Other warriors told me that you were patient when he failed and believed in him in a way the rest did not," He said, and once again, you didn't know what to say. You suppose that's all true, but you just didn't want to discredit him and everything he did to get to where he is, despite all the judgment that you've heard from the clan in the beginning. He brushed past all of that and kept going until he proved all of them wrong, and now he was seen differently. As a strong warrior.

The only reason Jake got to where he is is that you were with him every step of the way and never let him do anything he was afraid of without you being there to be his personal cheerleader to encourage him. During the lessons, that is all he could think about, and because of that, you will never be able to change his mind about how much you paved the way for everything he did. And from what he's heard, Eytukan thinks the very same. Your father saw how much you still struggled to believe in your own goals because you didn't want to demerit those you helped, but he needed to help you see this differently. He extended his hands out to you, cupped your cheeks, and forced you to look at him as his eyes hardened and your eyes started to sting involuntarily.

"An outsider was brought to us by The Great Mother, and that will never be a small thing. I heard stories of you carrying our culture and handing them to him with so much love and care in your hands," He said, not letting a single word lose its meaning, and for a second, he almost let himself slip as you stared at him with your young, starry, doe eyes that you used to plead at him with to let you go with him everywhere he went. The moment flashes of you as his little girl all those years ago almost let him break, but he continued nonetheless. "Words cannot explain how proud I am of you, ma'ite," He whispered, and you pursed your lips as you put your hands over his, to stop yourself from getting too emotional. You could not possibly start crying right now. You were so eager to help Jake and guide him through everything he set his mind to that you forgot how much growth you had yourself as well. Eytukan would be eternally grateful to Jake for being the one to bring back the spark in your eyes, and hopefully, he's the one who keeps it there.

"I just wanted to help," You signed tearfully, and Eytukan's eyes softened even more. That reason didn't surprise him at all, and he knew that it was just who you are to do everything in your power to be there for the people who need you, whether you're Tsahik or not. "And you should never be ashamed of that. In helping him, I saw just how much you've grown. You are a teacher now. A leader. And a bridge. Everything this clan always needed," He said, and you nodded as you pursed your lips. He just means that he hopes that you can continue to be that kind of person and be all of those things with or without a title.

A few beats went by until Eytukan realized that he said everything he needed to say, and it was time to let you go because you'd clearly been very giddy about where you were going, and he didn't want to hold you here much longer. "I want to spend more time with you, daughter. You and your mother. Before you stray too far from us, before you reach a point that you won't need us anymore at all," He said, and your heart squeezed painfully at his words. There was nothing that could take you too far away from them, and now that you know that he felt this way, you'd do everything in your power to keep your parents closer than ever. You smiled brightly, and in a second, you stepped forward and hugged him so that your cheek pressed against his shoulder.

He did not hesitate in returning it as his own arms wrapped around you, strongly and steadily. "No matter what happens, you will always be my little girl. No matter how far in life you go," He murmured, and you closed your eyes tightly as you nodded fervently against him. He raised a hand to thread his fingers through your hair gently. For the last time, you slowly pulled away from him and looked at him with big, glassy eyes, overwhelmed with emotion because of this conversation. "And you will always be my father. Ma' sempul, I am not going anywhere," You signed to him, assuring him that there is nothing in this whole world that could ever distance you from them or forget about them. They raised you and accepted you for who you are since you were born, and you couldn't have asked for anything more than that. That was all you ever needed to be happy. The love and support from your family, and no predetermined titles or pressure that keeps you apart anymore.

To be accepted for who you are and who you want to be. Your father then chuckled and put both of his hands on either side of your arms briefly, squeezing lightly. "We shall see what Eywa has in store for us, ma'ite," He said gently, and before you could even respond to that, you heard a very familiar voice calling for you. You turned your head back to see Jake waving over at you with a beaming grin, and you immediately mirrored it, waving back at him. You turned back to your father, and Eytukan followed your eyes to where you had been looking to finally realize who you were in such a rush for. He chuckled heartily and, with so much emotion behind it, nodded in understanding of the situation.

He gestured with his chin over to Jake, knowing that everything he needed to say was said, and you had somewhere to be now. "Go. You are needed." He said, and you nodded as you inhaled deeply, and then nodded, with your smile only growing more. Now that you know he felt this way, it was time that you, he, and Neytiri had a big talk about all of this, and that they finally knew how you've been feeling for years. "I will come find you, mother, and Neytiri later, and we can all talk," You signed excitedly as the joy returned to you and your father, then chuckled as he nodded and patted your arms in agreement. There is nothing he'd love more than that. "We will all be here," He said, and you nodded yet again. Without warning, you rushed to him one last time and gave him a big hug before you let go and finally ran off to catch up with Jake, who was still waiting for you across the room and hoping you could catch up.

As you did so, Eytukan watched you reach Jake and then saw the newly accepted warrior marvel at the flower on your ear for a second, and the fact that you still had it with you after weeks of him giving it to you. You visibly thanked him as your smile never left your face, and then didn't waste another second before you grabbed his hand, and then the two of you ran off together, laughing, out of Hometree. He stood there for a bit more time, wondering why he allowed so much time pass to the point he missed so much of your life. He had a feeling in his gut that told him that the promises said to each other were fleeting and fragile, and that something might come in the way, but he didn't know why.

Something was coming, and he knew it. Much sooner than anyone in this room would ever think of. Melancholy clouded Eytukan's gaze as he watched you go, as if the world was made for you and Pandora was illuminating every step you took. He hoped that whatever hunch he was having wasn't accurate, and it was just him feeling like a new era in this clan was coming, and he knew he had to prepare for it one way or another, and that's all that had him worried. He wants you and Neytiri to live long, healthy, and bountiful lives because he knows both of his daughters have so much to offer in a world that seems endless with possibilities and choices. You're both smart and gifted girls who will go far, and hopes that he and Mo'at live long enough to see nearly every single milestone in your lives. His gut just had to be wrong for that.

-

The night was in full swing now, and you knew more than ever what you wanted and prayed to Eywa that Jake felt the same way. You were taking him to that one place that you'd been saving for last, for after his training was over and he was officially accepted into the clan. After the two of you left Hometree together, it was as if you two were the only people on this planet, and the forest was made for the two of you just for tonight. You started to chase each other through the forest, much like how you've already done countless times before, and it never got old.

The forest was responding to the two of you in a much more lively way, the waterfalls were glowing more than ever before, both of your footsteps were brighter too, and your joy and his excitement could be reflected with each step you both took. You two have created this game of chase with each other that felt like it could last forever. Each time you felt like you'd gotten an advantage, Jake teases you and tugs on your tail to remind you that he's still there, and you only take that up as a challenge and run faster. Your laughter was silent, but Jake laughed as if he could hear it in that moment and pretended it was the most beautiful sound that he had ever heard. As if he couldn't get enough of it. Your smile alone has always been enough to undo him instantly.

He had no idea where you were taking him, but he knew that he would follow you until the end of Pandora just to stay by your side and never lose sight of you. Even as you were taking him to this special place, whenever he couldn't get a clear view of your face, you just couldn't hide how much you were smiling because of how much you wanted this to happen, and remembered how much Jake had told you not to hold back anymore. It's exactly what you were doing now, and even if he didn't feel the same, at the very least, you'll be content with the fact that you tried at least. It would hurt, for sure, but you want him to know how you feel. You know that what you have is so strong that if he does not reciprocate, you two can go back to how things are right now, even if that's not what you want deep down.

You'd accept it, for him. But for now, you wouldn't think about the 'what ifs' but what could be. You would be brave, you would be honest, and you would be kind as you've always been. The two of you were now running across this long branch with the waterfalls next to you and the river just below your feet. You looked up and saw none other than the Tree of Voices. The very place that you've been looking for, and with so much significance to you and your people that you couldn't show him this place at some point. This is an ancestral place that has just as much importance as the Tree of Souls in terms of how spiritually connected you all are to it in the clan. It's one of those places that Eywa's presence could be felt and sensed immensely, and it's the last place Jake needed to visit to finally solidify his connection with the Omaticaya and the Great Mother.

You specifically felt the presence of Eywa in a way that felt like it reached deep inside your soul, and it stays with you for a long time. You wanted Jake to feel that as well and know what it's like to feel the presence of the Great Mother in all its glory. The very deity that keeps a balance in every single nook and cranny on this planet. Every Na'vi, plant, animal, rock, and even non-living things have been blessed by her, and she is always there to protect what she connected into one beating heart. You and Jake continued to run through the branch until you made it all the way through, and you could hear his joyful laughter behind you. And you felt like you'd gotten a good advantage on him, but when you suddenly felt a tug on your tail, you turned around and saw Jake grin at you smugly and cheekily.

You gasped playfully, and then when you both stopped at this small clearing, a few of those fan-lizards emerged from the foliage, and the two of you just stopped to admire them. But Jake? He was completely whipped for you. The different colors of glowing lights that these lizards were emitting were casting down on you like divine light as you marveled at them with a softness to your eyes that he couldn't handle. He was utterly entranced by you in every single way, and it felt like every time he was in your presence, all of his problems just disappeared without a trace, and he got to live in bliss.

When the lizards started to disperse, your smile grew more shy and bashful, but also mischievous at the same time, while you extended your hand out and reached over to grab one of Jake's hands. The moment your skin touched his, he felt himself nearly melt on the spot as you started to tug him forward, closer towards the Tree of Voices. "Come on," You signed with your free hand, silently giggling, starting to bring him closer to you. All Jake could do was give you a boyish grin as he stumbled after you like a lost puppy.

You had him in a complete chokehold right now, and he was not ashamed, in the slightest. Once again, he'd let you take him anywhere. All he felt when he was with you was yearning, longing, and wishing that he could be with you forever. He means that literally. As you kept tugging Jake behind you, you extended out your free hand to run it through the hundreds of tendrils of the trees that the two of you just walked into. You closed your eyes and reveled in the presence of the Great Mother, and with each step both of you took, the floor then glowed brighter, as if welcoming your presence.

All Jake could do was marvel at what he was seeing; these purple-ish, pink, and blue strands that flowed with the wind so effortlessly made him stop and think what he did to ever deserve to see a sight like this in his lifetime. Jake felt you let go of his hand, and then he watched as you extended both of your hands out so that you could run them both through the tendrils. They were caressing your skin gently, as if trying to remind you that this was a sacred place that should not be tampered with. Jake saw what you were doing and started following your lead, extending out his arms as well and running his arms through the tendrils and the vines.

He had truly never seen anything like this before in his life, and now it gave him even more of a reason to go against the RDA to prevent their greed from ruining what might just be one of the most beautiful sights that he has ever seen. You included, of course. He continued to follow after you and watched as you looked at this place with so much reverence and love. When you finally turned around to face him, you laughed silently at how entranced Jake looked with the tendrils. He was inspecting them up close, and then he looked back up at you with so much wonder in his eyes that it made you laugh more.

"This is a very special place, Jake. It is meant for Na'vi prayers to be heard." You started as you began to walk closer to Jake, grabbed a tendril, and pressed it close to your cheek, reveling in the peace it gave you. "And sometimes answered," You signed as your shy smile became wider and happier. You needed to demonstrate what kind of power this place has amongst your people, and how the Na'vi are designed to be able to connect with Eywa through sites like these.

Jake watched as you grabbed your braid from behind your back, held it up to the tendril, and let your kuru connect to it. You closed your eyes and then inhaled deeply at the sensation that overcame you. The voices of all of your ancestors rang in your mind; warriors, weavers, hunters, and people from all walks of life together in one place where you could hear them. You opened your eyes and then turned to see Jake looking at you so intensely that it made heat begin to rush to your face, but you continued nonetheless.

You let go of one hand of the tendril and began to sign. "We call these trees Utraya Mokri. The Tree of Voices. The voices of all of our ancestors; mine, yours, and every Na'vi that has ever lived," You signed to him, with so much intention to your movement, that made Jake see just how important it really was. You gently disconnected your braid and then walked over to stand closer to Jake and gestured to his own braid.

Jake was quick to understand, and as he held onto a few tendrils in one hand and grabbed his braid from behind his back with the other, his eyes didn't leave yours once. You ignored the way that your heart started to race when he did and focused on what you were trying to show him right now. When he brought his kuru closer to the tendrils and let his queue connect to it, his eyes immediately dilated at the connection. He could hear all the voices of Na'vi from the past that are forever living in the embrace of Eywa after their death. His face twisted with disbelief at everything he was hearing, so so clearly. He turned to you and saw you looking at him with so much adoration at the fact that he was finally able to experience this.

"I can hear them...all of them," He whispered, and your heart swelled at his words. He quite literally could not find the words to describe how incredible this was, or how happy you were for him. You think this might be the first time that he has ever connected with Eywa personally like this. You walked closer to him, to the point you were just centimeters away from him, and you put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "They live, Jake...within Eywa, within you, and they will always be there. They will never let you face darkness alone," You signed, and Jake felt himself getting breathless just at the sight of you alone and all of the overflowing emotions he was feeling coursing through his body.

He continued to keep his braid connected and went on to hear more voices; children laughing, warriors of the past, mothers caring for their kids, singing, dancing, and so much more. Neither of you noticed how the space was starting to be filled with Atokirina right above you, as if Eywa was sending her blessing of this union about to be made, and approval of Jake finally reaching a point of connection with the deity that could never be undone and would stick with him forever.

You swallowed lightly and realized that this was the moment that you had been waiting for; the moment you'd gathered up so much courage for and that you could feel in your heart that it would be successful. You shyly lowered the hand that was on Jake's shoulder and let it drift down to his chest, where the holster that you made him lay.

You had your eyes set on the way the palm of your hand made contact with his skin, and you were unaware of the burning gaze Jake had on you right now as he leaned into your touch and stepped closer to you. "You are Omaticaya now, Jake," You signed, finally braving to raise your eyes back up at him, and he nearly took your breath away with the way he was looking at you; eyes darting all over your face, trying to contain himself. He saw the way your eyelashes fluttered, the way your pupils were growing, how your lips were parted, and how delicate each of your features is that never gets tired of admiring from up close. The fact that you were able to feel his heartbeat under the palm of your hand made it feel as if it was trying to speed up to sync with your own.

"You may now make your bow from the wood of Hometree..." You continued to sign, as you fought to keep eye contact with him despite how much you were hoping your knees didn't buckle under you. He would be getting more freedom in the clan to grow and learn in any way he pleases, and that included making his own weapons. You weren't even realizing that your faces were getting closer and closer together, and it was mostly Jake's doing. You have no idea how much he hoped that this moment would come.

You have been the light in the darkness that has consumed him, and spending day in and day out with you for the last 3 months hoped that it made it obvious how much he likes you. He has been feeling as if he was drowning, and without anything to hold onto to keep him afloat, but you are his anchor, and you have kept him afloat with every little detail about you that makes him want to wake up another day. Your quiet confidence is one of the things he loves most about you. He doesn't want to think about what might happen tomorrow, what already happened, or things he can't take back, because all he is focusing on in this very moment is you and no one else, and he hopes that you know how much he wants this. You have never once made him doubt what his place in the world is, even if you've doubted yourself for years on end.

You have never made him feel less-than because he comes from Sky People, you believed in him from the start, you have never made him feel bad for any mistakes he's made, and you always encouraged him, no matter what, because you know that's what helps you grow. You're his light at the end of the tunnel, and he'd be damned if he lets anyone rip you away from him. You were starting to feel this pull that was unconsciously bringing you closer to him to the point you feel his breath brushing against your skin, making you shudder. Your chest began to rise and fall slowly yet noticeably, and it didn't help that Jake proceeded to put a hand over yours, gripping it, like he didn't want you to go anywhere.

His golden eyes were piercing into your own, and it felt like you were forgetting how to breathe. Your eyes drifted away from him nervously, and a smirk tugged at Jake's lips at the sight, secretly enjoying how nervous and shy you were getting right now. You'd thought about what you could say, over and over in your head, but now that you two were here, alone, with no one around or anyone to hear what you had to say except for him, everything was getting jumbled in your head.

You thought you'd planned it out perfectly, but with the way he was looking at you? Your mind is turning to mush and going absolutely blank. You just wanted to stare at him forever. But you knew that this was the moment that you had been waiting for, and you can't waste it because you don't know when a moment this perfect will come again; perfect setting, perfect timing, and the perfect person.

You wanted something real. You know Tsu'tey cares about you, but you two were supposed to mate out of duty and convenience. You know he still loves Sylwanin with all of his heart, and he only agreed to mate with you so that he could protect you the way he couldn't do with her. But you don't want to be prevented from ever finding the love of your life and not be able to commit yourself to them in the way you want to because of duty. You knew that it would make people angry, but you know this is what you want. You fought back a smile as you briefly looked down and then drifted your gaze back up to him and stared at him decisively, knowing in your heart what you wanted.

"It also means that you can choose a woman now. A mate. Anyone of your choosing to court," You signed, and you tried to play it off as if you didn't care if it wasn't you, but you wouldn't be surprised if Jake could hear your heartbeat outside of your body. You were so flustered you couldn't think. You just truly want to make sure you were who he wanted to be with, too. You're willing to shut the door with a lock and key if he didn't feel the same. You also don't want to seem so eager, so you're trying to go about it in the best way you can think of.

Jake saw as you slowly took your hands away from his body, as you saw a small seedling start to float down towards you, and you welcomed it in one of your hands, watching as its tentacles brushed against your skin. He raised a skeptical eyebrow at you, continuing to try to hide his smirk. "Is that so?" He said, not being able to hide how amused he is by how much you were trying to act unphased and unbothered while telling him these things, but he decided to play along. You know that mating with someone who comes from the Sky People will quickly raise a lot of questions, and you just want to make sure that he's on the same page as you are. Willing to risk it all for each other.

You've been in charge of showing him the ways of your people, and choosing a mate is also an important milestone, even after getting accepted into the clan. You also would be lying if you said you hadn't noticed the way so many of the women in the clan have been ogling him lately, and you just want to make sure if they're appealing to him in any way or if it's nothing and all in your head. You know for certain that he's the only one in your eyes, but are you that to him as well?

You're about to find out. "Yes. I'm sure you have noticed that we have many fine women in the clan," You said as you continued to sign with your free hand and watched as the Atokirina brought you the only sense of peace of mind in this moment, especially when you could feel Jake walking up to you to stand right beside you to the point his body was nearly touching yours again.

He still had that strong and burning gaze in his eyes, and you could feel it on you still. You weren't complaining one bit, though. Jake was still trying his best to continue playing along with this and smiled playfully and with amusement when he heard your words. Yeah, and you're the only one I can't keep my eyes off of. He went on to think to himself. To Jake, there was just no one as beautiful and ethereal as you are, in his eyes. And no matter how much you try to deny it, nobody will ever be able to change their mind. You began to think of all the women you've overheard talking about Jake, whether it was just in passing or in between gossip.

Whether it was romantic or just regular admiration, this is a little test of your own to see where exactly he stood. "There's Ninat. She is the best singer," You added, and Jake let out a small huff as he raised a hand and used a single finger to gently stroke the Atokirina that was on your hand. He shrugged and observed every bit of your next reaction to what he'd say. You two both knew what the other was doing, but neither of you would do anything until either of you took the first leap.

"But I don't want Ninat," He murmured lowly, and you could hear it on the shell of your ear. You felt something coil in your stomach as you swallowed. You bit back a smile yet again. He was passing your small test so far, but you wanted to take it just a step forward. You don't think you've ever felt this bold before, but you didn't hate it, and Jake brought out that side of you. You don't want to get your hopes up quite yet.

You needed to keep this going until he said it with words that he did want to be with you as much as you. That he felt the same pull tugging him towards you as you did, and that he felt a missing piece of the puzzle as much as you did. You softly blew away the Atokirina, and then your ears went down slightly as you started to walk away from Jake, as your tail swished from side to side, teasingly making him chuckle. You were really making him work for it, weren't you? You stopped at a few tendrils and took a few in your grasp as you ran your fingers through them until you let them go and turned your body fully to him.

You looked off to the side, and then up to the night sky, and then finally at Jake, who was walking towards you yet again. He did not want to spend a second apart from you. Not tonight. As he walked towards you, the more you tried to hide what he was doing to you on the inside as he did. "If she is not to your liking, then...Beyral is one of our best hunters. You'd get along well. You would have a lot to talk about," You signed, and Jake's jaw clenched as he gently took hold of your hand on your side and rubbed his thumb against your knuckles, making your breath stutter.

"Yeah, maybe," He said, and in that moment, you felt your heart drop to your stomach. Did you hear that correctly? Had you gone too far and given him the wrong idea? You shouldn't have gotten your hopes up, have you? He said 'maybe' so it wasn't definitive, but it might as well have been, right? But you were also confused; every touch, every single lingering stare he gave you that hinted at something more, and every word he said to you, you couldn't have imagined any of it. Maybe it's best if you let him finish and not jump to conclusions right away, even if it's all your brain seems to know how to do right now. Panic coursed through you as you started to prepare for the worst.

"Oh. I see..." You signed, trying to keep pretending that you weren't as dejected as you actually were. Jake pursed his lips as he tried not to awe at how much you clearly wanted to hear a different answer. He was just trying to go along with your little game, but he knows that it's time to put an end to it right here and now, and make it clear to you that there is nobody else he would rather be with than you.

That he crossed galaxies to find you, and he doesn't regret any of it. That he's willing to go against his entire species and race to spend every remaining day of his life with you. That is when he thinks and looks into the future; he only sees you and only you. That there is no one that he has ever felt this kind of connection with, and that he knows he does not want to let go of it anytime soon. The RDA will have to get rid of him for that to happen, and he won't allow it. He's going to make it clear, right here in this very moment.

He took both of your hands in his and brought them up to his chest, pressing the palms of your hands against his chest and tugging you closer. Your eyes went wide as you stumbled forward and looked up at Jake with shock and heat burning in your cheeks. Your chest started to heave as your eyes started to dart all over his face, feeling more and more confused by the second. "But that doesn't matter to me. None of them matter to me like that, not like you do," He whispered, and your breath went still. You should've let him finish. Your eyes were glowing with hope as a smile tugged on your face, getting wider and wider before you could control it. Jake leaned in closer and whispered so lowly that you were glad he was holding you up.

"Because I already know who I want. And I'm sure you know it, too," He breathed out, and you had to pause for a second. You stayed frozen as involuntary tears of shock started to prick in your eyes. Were you hearing him right? Did he truly did feel the same way you did, and you didn't imagine any of it? You didn't imagine the feelings that have been growing inside you for weeks, because he had been feeling everything you did and it was all reciprocated. You felt your heart soar, but stayed quiet until he finished. You knew he wasn't done yet, so you contained your joy the best you could as you brought yourself closer to him. Even closer. Jake let go of one of your hands, and you kept it at his chest, but he used his to cup your cheek softly, reaching the back of your head and threading through your hair, stroking your cheekbone with so much tenderness.

"But this woman must also choose me," He said, in a breathy and whispered voice that made your ears go up and a warmth that started to burn inside you in a way that was spreading faster than you could control it, and you didn't want to make it stop either. With a shaky and trembling hand, you raised your free hand and tearily started to sign. "She already has...she always has," You admitted, and for the first time, as if he was finally allowing himself to do it out of respect for you all this time, his eyes dropped to your lips. So did yours. This is the very moment the two of you had been anticipating the most, and neither of you wanted to rush it. You wanted it to be special, memorable, and something that stuck with you both for a long time after this.

You both knew that you wanted it to be special, memorable, and meaningful. You both already felt like you had waited an eternity for this moment, even though it's only been a few months, but you would make it count nonetheless. There were a few seconds where both of you knew what you wanted to happen, but wanted to see what the other would do first, but after nothing happened, and it only looked like the fire in Jake's eyes was growing more by the second. You felt your breath hitch and your mouth part as you started to see him lean in closer to you, closing the distance inch by inch until you could feel your breath fan across each other's faces, erupting goosebumps all over your body. The moment your lips brushed the slightest bit, you flinched imperceptibly and felt an involuntary tear run down your cheek. You'd been waiting for this for so long, you didn't know what to do with yourself. You exhaled shakily against him, and Jake cooed gently against your lips, shaking his lips and hoping you'd stop crying. This was supposed to be a joyful moment, and he wanted you to enjoy every second of it.

Jake brushed away a stray tear from your cheek and spoke, "Y/n. I chose you...The moment I met you. Please...never doubt my love for you for a second," He said, and you inhaled sharply as your mouth fell agape, as your lip quivered slightly. You nodded shakily as you briefly closed your eyes and looked away from him, trying to get ahold of yourself. Your heart is so full right now that you could barely contain yourself. Your mind might be in overdrive right now; you know you don't want to wait any longer for it. You physically could not, and from the looks of it, you knew he didn't either. After a few seconds, Jake saw your expression melt into something more tender yet decisive at the same time. That was his cue. He didn't want to wait a single second longer to make what he's been dreaming of come to a reality. But just as Jake was about to do that, he saw you start to take slow steps towards him until your bodies were nearly pressed against each other. You gazed up with a glow in your doe eyes that nearly made him combust on the spot, your pupils darting all over his face, as if to remember this moment forever.

A few beats passed, and your smile grew tearful. "I love you, Jake," You mouthed, not signed, but actually said them. Jake felt his entire world pause, and his chest started to rise and fall with overwhelming emotion. God, he loved you so much he could die right here and now, and he'd be happy knowing this got to happen. You said it as if you wanted him to imagine what it would be like if you said it with a voice, but Jake saw it another way. You said it, without a voice, but with the same impact as if you had one. You two have always seen each other as equals, and those words were just as impactful on you, whether or not you had a voice to go with it. Jake didn't need to hear anything else. He started leaning in, and before you could even prepare for it, his lips captured yours in a searing yet firm kiss for the very first time. The moment you felt his lips against yours, you nearly crumbled right there in his arms.

They felt so much softer than you expected, and the way he was moving them against them, achingly slow against yours, made you clutch onto his holster with a strong grip to stop yourself from collapsing. After a few seconds of getting used to his rhythm, you started to follow it and tried to keep up with how he was progressively deepening it. You stumbled back on your feet as Jake stepped forward, but he caught you and swiftly caught you as his hands drifted along your waist and pressed you against him. You shivered at his hands moving from your waist to be on the small of your back, and you felt as if all air was cut off from your lungs.

You couldn't breathe, think, or function properly with how intensely and passionately he was kissing you and holding you, as if you would disappear right then and there, and he didn't want to wake up from whatever dream he was being blessed with right now. You waited for this, you ached for this every day, and prayed that he felt the same, and now that he does, you knew you couldn't waste this. All you could feel was heat burning every part of your body, and it didn't help that Jake's declaration was repeating in your head over and over as he fervently kissed you over and over. You could feel all the passion and hunger behind how he was leaning into you with every kiss, how he was gripping your body as if it was about to be taken away from him any second now, and both of you were so into it that you were forgetting that you needed to breathe.

Neither of you cared to stop. Every time he pulled away, you could only inhale sharply before he went right back in, and his desire for more continued to grow, as if he became a whole new, different person the moment he got to feel and taste your lips for the first time. All thoughts truly seemed to have left your mind in this moment, so much so that you were forgetting that there was one important thing you two had to do before this went any further. But even that was too hard for you to focus on. All you could think about was the way Jake's hands felt against your hips, your waist, your back, and now in your hair because he then moved one hand from the small of your back to thread in your hair.

The way his lips fit so perfectly with yours, moving in sync as if they were meant to create that symphony, and all you could hear were the soft smacking sounds of your lips together and his soft groans every time he went back for more, making you wish you had a voice to reciprocate it. But the forefront of your head was telling you not to forget that the two of you still had to solidify your bond in front of Eywa. You know that you'd forget if you let this go any further. As much willpower as it took, you pulled away from Jake's kiss, but he kept pecking your lips over and over afterwards, chasing after your lips, making you giggle silently.

You didn't want this night to ever end. "Jake. Sit down with me, okay?" You smiled with swollen lips, yet luminous and glowing eyes that made Jake feel as if his chest would split open any second now. You were still clutching tightly onto his holster with your hands and saw the way his chest was heaving up and down and how his eyes were silently begging for more. "Now?" He asked breathlessly as you nodded and then slowly started to lower yourself down to the ground, and Jake was quick to follow, trusting you blindly. But when he saw you reach behind you to grab your braid, Jake immediately understood. The back of his head kept screaming at him not to do it, not to bond with you, and then end up betraying you and make you doubt every single moment you have lived together. But the much louder part of his brain told him to do it and fight to stay with you, to stay here.

To fight for you, for your people, for the forest. Even if you never wanted to see him again. He loves you, he really does. With his entire being. To the point that he knows he can't live without you. He can't imagine going back to Earth and not seeing you ever again, waking up next to you, eating with you, laughing with you, and exploring every inch of this forest together. Every thought he has is centered on you, calculated around you, and built around you. There was no other way to put it other than you consume him in every conceivable way. Jake knows it's selfish, and he knows it will be a big sacrifice, but taking on the humans will not be impossible. If he has you with him, he knows he can do anything. And even if you didn't want to see him again or didn't want anything to do with you, being in your presence was a blessing.

He did the same thing you did and reached behind him to grab his own braid. You held up your kuru's up, and the tendrils exposed themselves and started to extend towards one another as if longing to finally join. You looked at Jake one last time and silently asked if this was what he really wanted with just your eyes. That you would be bonded for life after this, and no force on Earth could ever pull you apart. You observed him for a few seconds, but when he didn't do anything, it startled you when he suddenly reached for your waist again and then tugged you towards you until your knees were brushing against each other. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against yours, and he closed his eyes.

You did the same as the two of you breathed each other in for a second, and then your eyes opened again. You nearly gasped at the fire that was burning behind his gaze. "I've never wanted anything more," He whispered, and you felt your entire body soar hearing that. You let a silent laugh escape you, and the two of you turned your heads towards your tendrils at the same time, heads still leaning against the other.

You slowly brought your queues closer to each other until they brushed against one another, while the tendrils glowed brighter against your faces as they had a mind of their own. You continued to guide them together without hesitation, and when they finally connected at last, Tsaheylu was finally made. The world shattered into light, and the reaction from both of you was nearly instantaneous. Jake and you gasped at the same time, and your eyes dilated for a few seconds. It was official now. Your bond had been made. Something that was just so intimate, spiritual, and earth-shattering that it was supposed to only be done with the person you love. You knew Jake was that person to you.

Jake felt your emotions pour into him like a tsunami. Everything you felt for him poured into him all at once: your warmth, devotion to him, faith in him, your nerves, longing, yearning, deep unconditional love, and so many more he couldn't name. He felt every part of your body. Your heartbeat, your mind, and the way your soul seemed have been aching for him for a lot longer than he ever thought it did. You felt it all too, and it was overwhelmingly accepted into your consciousness. You felt all his positive emotions: his deep love for you, his desperation to be with you, his strength, perseverance, dedication, and every part of him that yearned to be with you for the rest of his days.

You also felt the bad parts that tore your heart to shreds: his guilt, his self-deprication that ran deep, his hate at himself he never dared to share with anyone, his fear of losing you in one way or another, and his desire not to have this moment be ripped away from him. To not have you be ripped away from him like a cruel dream. In an instant, you conveyed through the bond without saying any words that you would never leave him, that you would shoulder his burdens with him, and that he never had to be alone anymore. The moment he received it, he immediately opened his eyes to make eye contact with you, and you froze, as if there were tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

Your lips started to quiver sadly, and you reached over with your hand to cup his cheek, and he immediately leaned into it, closing his eyes tight and remembering what your touch feels like. Trying to engrave it in his mind in case he never gets to feel this ever again.

You leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss on his cheek that made him open his eyes yet again and see you with nothing but utter love and devotion behind them. He would not let anyone tear the two of you apart. Not now, not ever, and he simply would not allow it. Jake was breathing you in as if you were the air itself, and your tails started to brush and then intertwine with each other, deliberately coiling around each other as if that alone could express what words could never. You could feel Eywa's presence wrap around the two of you, blessing your union, approving and witnessing how you came together this way.

"This is forever, Jake...we are mated for life," You signed and breathed out in your own disbelief, and Jake then nodded fervently, leaning towards you and gently pecking your lips, moving to let go of his braid and cradle your face with both of his hands as if it was the most precious and fragile thing in the world.

"Yeah..." He nodded breathlessly against you. "Forever. And I am never leaving you. Ever." He repeated, as if saying it would erase all the sacrifice that would have to follow, so that it actually comes true. As if that alone could stop the world from tearing you both apart. And now that nothing was stopping you both from what you were doing before, Jake saw you smile knowingly, and he immediately knew what that meant. He truly wanted to believe that nothing could ruin this.

Jake was trying to fuel up as much as he could before he went in, so his mind was as sharp as it could be for this trial. It's the last stage of being accepted into the clan, and he didn't come all this way for nothing. Grace walked away from him and then continued to pace behind him.

She knew that this moment would come eventually, where Jake would risk it all tonight, not only to be with you, but to finally join a clan he'd eventually have to leave. She tried to ignore how close you and Jake had gotten, and she dismissed it as mere friendship to have someone to guide him in the clan, but she should've known a long time ago it was more than that and that Jake would fight tooth and nail to stay with you and prove he was worthy.

She put her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue as she exhaled deeply. He had no idea what he was getting into here. "I said it once, and I'll say it again, Jake. You're just not strong enough for this," Grace insisted, remembering all the stories she's heard of many other hunters who tried to do their dream hunt and didn't make it out of it.

If this was his way of trying to prove himself, she wished he knew that he didn't have to do it. The pain that Na'vi went through was excruciating, and it worried her that he'd need more than 3 months to make it out of it.

Grace is certain that he could very well die before he could even be proclaimed as part of The People, and all of his work would've been for nothing. Jake shook his head, downing a drink in one go that he was holding in a cup, and then set it back down on the table.

"I don't care. It's the last door, Grace. I'm going to go through with it. You can either help me or just get out of the way and let me do this," Jake said firmly with a decisiveness that concerned Grace even more. He had no idea what he was talking about. She watched as he wheeled himself away from the window and then towards the pod as the link began to start.

"Jake, will you just listen to me? Sometimes even the Na'vi themselves die in these vision quests! The venom takes you to the edge of death! The psychoactive alkaloid in the worm? We have no idea what that will do to an Avatar brain," Grace argued fervently, but she had no idea Jake would not listen to anyone at this point, and nobody could change his mind.

No matter how much she tried to tell him about the possibility of death, the pain, and failing. Trying, giving it his all, and failing is better than not trying at all and feeling like he let all of your efforts to get him where he is go to waste.

He'd rather feel like he died making you proud. Norm was across the room, preparing the rest of the link, hearing the whole conversation, and trying not to pry or butt in despite how tense the air in the room was getting.

"Initializing," Norm said as the pod opened, and Jake wheeled himself quickly over to it as Grace stayed right behind him. Jake stopped at the pod and frustratingly turned himself over, feeling his frustration start to bubble up in a way that it had never before.

"Grace. Weren't you the one who told me that science is about not knowing!" Jake argued, using her points against her. Grace simply stared at him, not knowing how to feel about her logic being thrown right back at her.

Never did she ever think that the same man who had never cared about science before he came here would suddenly start to rationalize what was about to happen in the way that he was. He just wasn't understanding where she was getting at, not getting the gravity of it all, or maybe he did and just didn't care.

"Jake, no matter what you're trying to prove out there, or for whom, you're still in here," Grace countered, knowing that he was doing this for something much bigger than he was letting on. She knows very well that he has grown attached to being out there in a body that gave him freedom and a life he never thought he'd have, but he constantly keeps forgetting that the life he has out there isn't meant to last as long as he wants it to because the RDA simply would not allow it.

As much as she hates it, Grace knows that the Avatar Program will always be overseen by them, and if she had the opportunity, she would have stayed on this planet a long time ago in her Avatar body, too, but it's just not possible, and Jake keeps ignoring that fact time and time again.

He has had this glimmer of hope that he was clinging to that if he became one of The People, he'd have a better chance at the Na'vi, allowing him to fight back with them, but he also hopes that if he manages to miraculously win that fight, he'd be able to stay here. With you.

He has never been this hopeful about anything before in his life, but now that he is, he won't let that go away so easily. Jake gripped the sides of the pod and brought himself up to it in one swift move until he was sitting on the edge of it, pulling his legs up onto it as well.

"You're right here, Jake," Grace said, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder, shaking it slightly to remind him that what he wants was not as easy as he's making it out to be. If it were up to her, Grace would've done it too a long time ago, but unfortunately, this is how things had to be.

She has watched his transformation into a man who had lost all hope in every aspect of his life, into one who had so much determination in his eyes that it almost scared her. Jake raised his hand and put it on top of Grace's, gripping it and looking up at her firmly.

His breathing was now heavier with desperation, and his eyes were looking at Grace with a soft and pleading look, at someone he cares for a lot, and he told her straight to her face that he wasn't giving up. "I need to do this. I need to become one of them," He said, looking away from her, letting go of his grip on her, and continuing to pull himself up to the pod.

Grace fought a groan of utter frustration as she sighed heavily and sat on the pod, right in front of him. He just wasn't getting it, was he? It wasn't as easy as just becoming one of them, staying here, and the RDA handing over an Avatar body that cost millions of dollars to create.

"Damn it, Jake! Listen to me! You can never be one of them! Our life out there takes millions of dollars of machinery to sustain. You visit, and you leave. That's it. I thought you knew that from the beginning." Grace said, and she saw the way he paused as he got himself more comfortable in the pod, and his eyes fell when he looked up at her.