I had a fanfic idea years ago, back when I was obsessing over Way of Water.
In the aftermath of Neteyam’s death, Neytiri is broken, unreachable. Consumed by her grief, she begins to believe in an old Metkayina legend, “A life for a life”, a spiritual tale about great loss and an exchange to bring back what was lost. In her grief-stricken mind, she believes that sacrificing Spider, the son of her greatest enemy, will restore balance and bring her firstborn son back to life. Under the cover of night, Neytiri finds Spider near the shore and snatches him away...but to her surprise, he does not scream for help or attempt to fight back. Spider, grieving and suffering from severe survivor's guilt, agrees to go along with her plan. He goes with her...willingly.
But what begins as a journey toward death and resurrection becomes something else entirely, a slow unraveling of hatred, grief, and a growing bond between two broken souls as Neytiri and Spider ascend the sacred mountain together with Jake hot on their trail, desperate to stop another great tragedy.
My draft is still floating around in my folder, but I might just pick up on it and make some changes because it was supposed to have a really sad ending.
