Chapter 12
*My POV*
Jake brought back Grace's human body, while we prepared Grace's Avatar. When they returned all the Omatikaya people sat on the sacred grounds below the Tree of Souls, attaching their Queues to the ground. Everything around us lit up as my mother's presence was shown and we all began chanting.
I looked at Tsu'tey and Neytiri and we nodded. I attacked myself to the vines of Mother's Tree and closed my eyes, hoping to help guide Grace.
"Look, where we are Grace." Jake told her softly. Her eyes opened, as she looked up, surprised and at peace.
"I need to take some samples." Grace breathed. Jake chuckled at her softly.
Jake came and stood next to Neytiri as we looked down at both Grace's bodies. The ground's glowed around her body and little strings like queues formed all over her, making her one with the earth.
"The Great Mother may choose to save all that she is in this body." Mo'at explained to Jake, pointing from Grace's human form to her Avatar.
"Is that possible?" Jake asked.
We stared at him. "Um, Jake." I said.
Jake facepalmed at his question.
"Anyways, yes, but she must pass through the eye of Eywa and return. I will try and guide her, Jake." I told him quietly and squeezed his hand.
"But, Jakesully, she is very weak." Mo'at warned.
"Hang on, Grace. They're gonna fix you up." Jake bent down to her.
"Hear us please, All Mother." Mo'at chanted.
"Eywa, help her." The Omatikaya chanted back.
"Take this spirit into you."
"Eywa, help her."
"And breathe her back to us."
"Eywa, help her."
"Mother, I call out to you. Find Grace's soul, and let her walk among us. Please, give my second mother a chance." I chanted and begged.
"Eywa, help her." The people chanted.
"As one of the people." Mo'at, Neytiri and I asked together.
"Eywa guide her."
I closed my eyes and felt my mother all around me. It was like walking through a bright white light to get to the other side. Her hand laced with mine and we searched for Grace. I felt the pull of her presence and let it guide me to her. Tendrils from the ground raised and attached to Grace's neck, allowing the connection to be made from her human consciousness to her Avatar one.
I grabbed Grace's hand and pulled to allow her to touch my mother's hand. My mother released me back and I opened my eyes, hoping that Grace made it through her.
I released my queue from the Tree and bent down beside Mo'at.
"Wait!" Mo'at commanded the people and they stopped chanting.
Grace's head turned and she looked up at the sky, like her eyes were seeing two things at once.
"Jake, Izzy." She said weakly.
"Grace." We held her hand tightly.
"I'm with her Jake, Izzy. She's real." Grace breathed out and she began to fade.
"Grace?" I called out seeing her eyes closing. "Grace, please. Grace!" I called out.
"What's happening? Grace?" Jake asked.
The lights on the grounds around us began to slowly dissipate away and I touched them, feeling the sorrow Eywa left. I had tears, I felt pain.
Tsu'tey and Neytiri sighed quietly knowingly, as Mo'at waved her hands over Grace's bodies.
"What's happening?" Jake asked looking at Neytiri and Tsu'tey's faces. "Did it work?"
"Her wounds were too great. It was not enough time. She is with Eywa now." Mo'at shook her head and removed Grace's mask as she was gone.
"No, no! Grace! Mom! Please!" I begged as tears fell as I screamed in agony.
Tsu'tey and Neytiri came up and pulled me into his chest as I sobbed into their chests. I lost the mother who raised me...
Jake sighed and stood up to his feet looking more determined than ever. He reached his hands over towards Neytiri, Tsu'tey and I and we took them without hesitation. Jake lifted us to our feet and led them to Ryan.
"With your permission, I will speak now." Jake asked of him. "You would honor me by translating."
Ryan nodded and the six of us stood together, Skylar stood by Ryan's sky, I guess they mated. Jake released mine, Neytiri and Tsu'tey's hands, after pulling us close next to him and looking out at our people.
"The Sky People have sent us a message." Jake spoke and Ryan and Tsu'tey repeated after him. "That they can take whatever they want and no one can stop them. Well, we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind will carry you. You tell the other clans to come."
Tsu'tey and Ryan smiled at Jake's plan and translated proudly, making the Omatikaya people stand and speak in agreement.
"You tell them Toruk Macto calls to them." Jake relayed passionately. "And you fly now with me! My brothers! Sisters! And we will show the Sky People, that they cannot take whatever they want, and that this, this is our land!"
"This is our land!" Neytiri and I cheered alongside him.
The people roared in excitement and agreement. Jake quickly grabbed mine, Neytiri and Tsu'tey's hands and pulled us away from the Tree and down towards Toruk.
"Let us go!" Ryan cheered and everyone began to run off.
Jake attached the Tsaheylu and climbed aboard Toruk, lending a hand down towards Neytiri, Tsu'tey and I. We grabbed it and he pulled us up behind him. Our arms quickly wrapped around each other's waists, and he cheered, making Toruk stand on it's hind legs, spreading it's wings and screeched as well.
We flew off into the night and the Omatikaya people cheered beside us, climbing aboard their Ikran's and taking flight.
"Yah!" Neytiri and I let out war cries and Jake and Tsu'tey laughed, pulling us back down and kissing our cheeks.
"We rode out to the four winds. To the horse clans of the plain. To the Ikran people of the eastern sea."
"Back to the stars! For our children's children!" Jake spoke proudly.
"Back to the stars! For our children's children!" Neytiri, Tsu'tey and I translated for him at every clan.
"When Toruk Macto called them, they came."
Nearly two days had passed and we watched our home become the home to 3 times as many Na'vi as there once was. We trained and prepared for the war we knew was coming.
I woke up and found Tsu'tey, Neytiri and Jake beside me. My dreams were strange and I needed answers. Neytiri must have been feeling the same way. We carefully moved their arms off and climbed up, wobbling slightly as we felt dizzy. We took deep breathes and steadied ourselves before heading to my mother's tree, where we knew we'd find my earthly mother.
We leaned against the bark of the Tree of Souls and breathed in my mother's presence for guidance.
"My child, Neytiri, you seemed troubled." Mother said as she approached us. We turned and looked at her and let our small sighs. She rubbed our arms gently.
"We need you to perform the ritual of life on us." Neytiri asked quietly, not meeting her eye.
"You two believe you are with child?" She gasped. We nodded and she approached closer, resting her hands over our stomachs and closing her eyes. Mother chanted and her hands gently circled our stomachs. A soft smile crossed her lips and she straightened herself and held our hands in her hands. "You two are with children. Are you not happy?"
"No, no, it's not that. Its just now isn't a great time, is it? We could lose Jake or Tsu'tey. You, and many others. The impending war is upon us and what should be a time of great joy and celebration is surrounded in darkness. And we don't want to lose the fathers of our children." We sighed.
"A child or children is always a blessing, no matter the timing. Take joy in these gifts you've been blessed with. Eywa watches over you." Mother said softly and we hugged her. "You two, Jake and Tsu'tey will make wonderful parents. You four are mates, work together."
"Thank you, mother." We bowed in respect.
*3rd POV*
At the Hell's Gate base, they had readings showing the growing number's of Na'vi people and this concerned them. They planned their assault for weeks and were preparing to head out after their meeting.
"Everyone on this base, every one of you, is fighting for survival. That's a fact! There's an aboriginal horde out there massing for an attack. Now, these orbital images tell me that the hostile's numbers have gone from a few hundred, to well over 2,000 in one day. And more are pouring in. In a week's time, there could be 20,000 of them. At that point, they will over run our perimeter. Well, that's not gonna happen. Our only security lies in pre-emptive attack. We will fight terror with terror."
Quaritch explained to the many troops sitting in on his meeting.
"Now, the hostile's believe that this mountain stronghold of their is protected by their, their deity. And when we destroy it, we will blast a carter in their racial memory so deep that they won't come within a thousand clicks of this place ever again. And that too, is a fact."
Soldiers cheered in agreement to the Colonel's words and massive loads of explosives were loaded onto the gunships. Ampusits, arsenals of weaponry were all loaded on board.
Jake, Trudy and Norm got ready inside their camp, when they received a call from Max.
"Jake, it's crazy here. It's full of mobilization. They're rigging the shuttle as a bomber. They've got these huge pallets of mine explosives. It's for some kind of shock and awe campaign." Max explained.
"Fucking daisy cutter." Trudy cursed.
"Quaritch has taken over. He's rolling, and there's no stopping him."
"When?" Jake asked curiously.
"0600 tomorrow." A woman came into view of Max's video. "I gotta go!" He quickly clicked off.
"We're screwed." Norm exclaimed.
"And I was hoping for some sort of tactical plan that didn't involve martyrdom." Trudy chuckled angrily. "We're going up against gunships with bows and arrows."
"I have 15 clans over there." Jake stated. "That's over 2,000 warriors. Now, we know these mountains. We fly them. You fly them." Jake gestured to Trudy.
"They don't. Their instruments won't work up here. Missile tracking won't work. They'll have to fire line of sight. If they bring the fight to us, then we have the home field advantage."
"You know he's gonna commit that bomber straight to the Tree of Souls." Trudy told him with a raised brow.
"Yeah, I know." Jake nodded reluctantly.
"If they get to the Tree of Souls, it's over. That's their direct line to Eywa, their ancestors. Izzy's mother. It'll destroy her if that Tree gets destroyed." Norm pointed out and Jake looked at him determined, he won't have one of his mates die.
"Then I guess we'd better stop him."
Neytiri and I had tried all day to speak with Jake and Tsu'tey about the important news we had found out. But it seemed as though every time we had the chance, some one else needed them more.
We watched as Jake and Tsu'tey was brought away by one of the clans to answer questions and make plans. We knew that they were needed and important, so we tried to respect that and walked away. We felt their eyes on us as we did so, until we were out of sight.
"Neytiri, Izzy." Jasiri and Stitch greeted us and hovered their hands over our stomachs. We gasped narrowing our eyes as questions to how they knew and quickly moved their hands down before anyone could see and pulled them into the trees.
They chuckled and we smacked their arms gently. "Mo'at told us. She thought maybe for now you two could confide in someone else."
"Thank you, guys. We appreciate it. Jake and Tsu'tey's been working so hard, we haven't been able to tell them."
"You seem worried."
"I am."
"Why?"
"W-What if they don't want this? What if they're not ready for it?" We asked nervously.
"We've never seen four people more in love with each other, than the four of you with each other. Nor, more deserving of each other's affections. The way they look at you two is like you're the only stars in the sky. They'd be fools not to want this with you." They assured us gently. "You all are ready, and we are proud of you."
"Thank you, Jasiri, Stitch."
The world became dark as night fell on us. Neytiri and I stood in the shadows as Jake and Tsu'tey approached the Tree of Souls. We were curious as to what they were doing, when he bent down and began to pray.
"Probably just talking to a tree right now." Jake and Tsu'tey sighed. "But as Izzy's mother. As this moon's Mother, if you're there. We need to give you a heads up." They attacked their queues to some of the vines.
"If Grace is with you, look into her memories. See the world we come from. There's no green there. They killed their Mother. And they're gonna do the same here. More Sky People are gonna come. They're gonna come like a rain that never ends. Unless we stop them." Jake and Tsu'tey prayed desperately.
Neytiri and I looked at each other and slowly approached them from behind. "Look, you chose Izzy and Jake for something. We will stand and fight. You know we will. But we need a little help here." Tsu'tey whispered.
"Jake, Tsu'tey." Neytiri and I called out softly and placed our hands on our mates' shoulders.
Their queue released form the tree and they placed their hands up over ours.
"My mother does not take sides, Jake." I explained and he sighed, standing up with Tsu'tey allowing us to places our hands on the sides of our mates cheek. "She protects only the balance of life. We can do this." We smiled at them weakly.
"It was worth a try." Jake sent a weak smile back at Neytiri.
Neytiri and I pulled our mates closely and rested our foreheads together, allowing all of us to breathe all of us in.
"Izzy and I have news." Neytiri said gently.
We grabbed our mates hands and moved them from our hips to lay flat against our stomachs. We breathed in and out, eyes flickering over theirs too to see their reaction. "We are with child."
"Y-You're what?" Jake and Tsu'tey breathed out after a gasp. "You....You're pregnant."
"Yes." Neytiri and I said nervously.
Before I could look down to the ground to look away, Tsu'tey's hands moved from my stomach to my face and he kissed me passionately as Jake did the same to Neytiri, then they switched. Where Tsu'tey kissed Neytiri and Jake kissed me.
Jake and Tsu'tey began to laugh as they released our faces and held us close to them, spinning us around, then bend down to the ground and touching our stomachs. We laughed alongside them and rested our hands on their hair.
"I see you, little one. I can't wait to meet you. Wow, I can't believe there is a little one in there. Half of me and half of you." Tsu'tey said excitedly, placing a kiss gingerly to my stomach first, then Neytiri's. Jake did the same.
Jake stood up and held Neytiri and I close.
"Are you happy?" We asked Tsu'tey and he stood up gently cupping my face.
"You have made me the happiest man on all of Pandora. I love you, Izzy, Neytiri, Jake. I love you."
"We love you, Tsu'tey."
The next morning, bright and early we and our troops readied to travel to the Flux Vortex to meet the newest assault that was coming our way. Tsu'tey, Neytiri, Jake and I had made passionate love through the night.
Jake and Tsu'tey was loving, supportive, and caring about the whole thing. As I called out to Mahina, and Neytiri called out to Seze, and we placed our com links around our neck and prepared to board Jake and Tsu'tey ran over towards us.
"Where do you think you're going Mamas?" Jake and Tsu'tey chuckled as they spun us around from behind. Their hands gently pressed on our stomachs. "You two should stay here. Stay safe."
"What?" We scoffed and our laughter immediately died down. We pulled away from them and scowled. "We are coming with you two."
"Girls, it's not safe." Jake and Tsu'tey pleaded and tried to touch our cheeks. We smacked their hands and glared.
"The world has never been safe, Jake, Tsu'tey. I am brave. I am strong. I am a warrior. And I will not let my people fight without me." Neytiri and I huffed.
"Being pregnant does not stop us or anyone." Jake and Tsu'tey quickly binded our hands together and pulled our bodies towards theirs.
"I won't lost you, Neytiri, Izzy. Either of you." Jake and Tsu'tey shook their heads holding us close.
"Nor, I you." We touched their cheeks, kissing their foreheads, their eyes, their eyes, their nose then their lips. "We can do this together. We come back to each other. You promise me, Jake, Tsu'tey. You promise me."
"I promise you, Neytiri, Izzy. We will return to each other." They sighed and kissed us once again. "Be safe."
"Be safe."
We released our holds on them and we climbed onto Mahina and Seze's back, attaching our tsaheylu. Jake, Tsu'tey and the other's all aboreded their Ikran's and Jake on his Toruk. We flew through the mountains and as we got close Tsu'tey and Jake nodded at one another. Jake turned and looked at me and Neytiri and we all gave each other smiles and nods and put our plan into action.
"This is Papa Dragon." Quaritch said from his ship flying through the Flux Vortex. "I want this mission high and tight. I wanna be home for dinner. Suit team, go." He commanded.
A few of the spacecrafts and helicopters landed on the grounds releasing the ground teams into the forests below. The bigger of the crafts released its drop doors and Ampsuits came jumping out, manned by men, armed with heavy artillery.
"All right, ladies. Let's bring the pain!" Lyle Wainfleet called out from his Ampsuit to the team he was leading.
"Watch formation." Ampsuit 2 said through their links. The team walked further into the forests searching for any signs of Na'vi people.
"Roger that."
"Charlie 2-1, watch your spacing." Lyle informed them. "Eye's up. Check that overhead and watch those thermal scans."
"All call signs, Papa has lead, pushing to target." Quaritch relayed. "Escorts, stay close to my shuttle."
"We are gonna lose some paint in here." One of the soldiers sighed, looking out the window of the main shuttle of the fleet.
"Gun crews, keep your head on a swivel. Make no mistake, people, they're out there." Quaritch informed them.
A fleet of ships came flying through the Hallelujah Mountains, heavily armed and ready to fight. Gunmen sat on the top of a few ships, with big machine guns bolted to the rails. The arches that led to the Tree of Souls was insight.
"All right, people, target in sight. Range, four clicks. Valkyrie 1-6, get your payload ready." Colonel informed them.
"Copy, preparing to offload." The pilot replied. "Staff Sergeant, stage the weapon."
"Roll it to the ramp!" The Staff Sergeant demanded, opening up the loading door and waving at his people. "Let's go! Hold!"
They pushed a load of the explosives to the edge of the ramp doorway, waiting until they got closer to the Tree of Souls to drop the load.
We all rested with our Ikran's clutched to the side of one of the Hallelujah Mountains, seeing them approach.
"Charlie 2-1, we've got movement." Operator of the Ampsuit exchanged.
"Hold on, hold on. We've got movement out there, 500 meters." Lyle stopped walking in his suit.
"Charlie 2-1, holding position."
They held waiting for our warrior group of Direhorse riders that came fast approaching on them.
"Sir, ground has movement! Fast approaching." An airmen relayed to the Colonel.
"Firing line! Targets closing Range, 400 meters." Lyle commanded, making his team move into a line.
"Can't you clean it up?" The Colonel huffed annoyed as the airmen's instruments flickered in and out.
"No, sir. It's the Flux."
Hundreds of warriors on Direhorses began letting our battle cries as they approached, including Norm who was riding with them on his own, with a hun in hand.
Jake, Neytiri, Tsu'tey and I leapt off from our hiding spots and flew around the Mountain, hooting and calling out to our people who were waiting for instruction.
"Let's go! Let's go!" Tsu'tey raised his bow, and the teams began to detach and fly downward.
"Ma Tsu'tey, I'm gonna punch a hole. You follow me through." Jake touched the com link on his neck, connecting to Tsu'tey.
"I am with you." He replied back.
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