Still Breathing

Chapter 3. Alien Blues

"Was it the best you've ever had was it the worst you've ever known." ~ Vundabar

Lo'ak was tossing in turning, unable to fall asleep. He was thinking about what his father had told him and his siblings. Their father was not only a Sky Person, but the body he was in wasn't really his?

"Could you stop moving around for two seconds." Kiri complained as she stared daggers at her brother. It was late and she just wanted to sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. All she could hear was this constant thumping in her ears and now with Lo'ak's noise, she really couldn't sleep.

"Sorry, I just can't stop thinking about what dad said." He complained to which Kiri turned to face him. She knew that he was bothered, but she didn't know what was bothering him about it.

"Let's go outside and talk so we don't wake up Neteyam." She whispered, nodding her head in the direction of their older brother who was fast asleep. He agreed as the two of them quietly made their way outside. The sounds of Pandora's creatures filled the air.

"What is bothering you?" Kiri asked, looking intently at her brother who was staring off into the forest, refusing to meet her gaze.

"What if people make fun of us for being part human?" Lo'ak asked as genuine fear spread across his face. Kiri sighed, placing a hand on her brothers shoulder.

"I don't think anyone would dare to fake fun of the son of Toruk Makto." She teased, shoving his arm lightly. He didn't seem to find that funny as he shot her a glare. 

"The people know dad was born a sky person and they accept him. We were born as Na'vi, just with a few quirks." Kiri shrugged, kicking her feet that were dangling over the edge of the branch they were sitting on. 

"But what if they don't accept us?" He asked sounding sad as he finally met his sisters gaze. A frown tugging at his lips.

"Then we handle those people the way dad taught us." She answered, winking at her brother. Lo'ak smiled finally, feeling a little bit better. The two siblings smiled at each other before going back inside and going to sleep.

That night, Lo'ak slept better than he had in a long time. But Kiri still heard that thumping in her ears, and she laid awake just like she had every night for the last few weeks. 

-

EARTH

Erica had walked into the lab, walking past all the lab coats with her duffle bag. She saw at least six tanks with developing Avatars in them. It had been about a year since they first launched people back to Pandora and she wondered if any of these Avatars belonged to any of them.

"You must be Miss Lambton." The women in question turned the direction of where she heard her name coming from. There was an older women in a lab coat, wearing her crazy brown hair up in a bun as she smiled at the young women.

"Please, call me Erica." She spoke, smiling as she reached her hand out to the scientist.

"I'm Dr. Chacon. But you can call me Sierra." She brought her hand to Erica's shaking it before showing her around the lab a little bit.

"So, what's your specialty?" Erica asked the Doctor, still following behind her as she looked around the lab curiously.

"I'm glad you asked." Sierra pulled back a curtain, revealing a room that almost looked like a doctors office, minus the giant tank inside. "I specialize in merging Na'vi and human DNA. And if you want your own Avatar by the time you reach Pandora, we gotta get on it now."

Sierra gestured for Erica to sit in the chair as she gathered a few things from inside her desk. Erica looked at the giant tank sitting in her office as she thought about what her Avatar would look like.

"Can you roll up your sleeve a little bit?" Sierra asked as she rolled her office chair beside Erica's, holding a needle-like object in her hand. She obliged, rolling her sleeve slightly past her elbow as she swallowed harshly. She'd never been good with needles and this was no exception.

"You're just going to feel a little pinch." Erica nodded as she took in a shaky breath, looking away. She closed her eyes tight as she felt a burning sensation coming from her arm. What ever the Doctor had just done, it had been a bit more than just give her a simple vaccine.

"All done." Erica looked over at the Doctor who was holding a tube with white particles floating around. 

"What is that?" She asked, wincing slightly as Sierra wiped her arm with an alcohol wipe.

"That, my friend, is your DNA. And..." Sierra trailed off as she finished placing a bandaid on Erica's arm before walking towards her desk, pulling out a tube with yellow particles in it. "We're going to mix it with the Na'vi DNA." She finished her sentence, shaking the tube with the yellow particles for emphasis.

Erica watched as Sierra walked over towards the giant tank and placed the two DNA tubes one after the other inside of it. Watching as the liquid was drained from them both. Placing a hand on the tank, she said, "This is where we'll be growing your Avatar for the next six years."

Erica stood up from her chair, walking beside the Doctor as she placed her forehead against the glass tank. Her eyes lit up with child like excitement as she thought about what her Avatar would look like. 

The excitement faded as Erica wondered if her Avatar would look like her fathers. She then begun to think about her father even more. How would she find him? Would he even remember her? Would he even care that she was there?

That's when the emotions started to take over. She was going to be meeting her father in six years (but will only feel like a few hours) and she couldn't believe it.

Sierra noticed the change in her expression as she dropped her smile and looked over at Erica with concern. She placed a gentle hand on her back before asking, "What's wrong?"

Erica froze. 

She couldn't tell them about her father because if they knew the real reason she was going, she'd be pulled from the program. Seeing as her father is known as "The man who betrayed his own race." So she lied.

"My mom passed away about a month ago. I just miss her." Which wasn't a complete lie, it just wasn't the reason she was crying. Honestly, she didn't really know why she was crying. She just knew that it had something to do with her dad.

"I'm sorry, Hun." Sierra spoke in a soft voice, rubbing small circles on Erica's back. Sierra was nice, and Erica really hoped that she wouldn't have to betray the Doctor when she went to Pandora. 

But nothing was going to keep her from her father.

A/N

I know this is a shorter chapter but I just wanted Erica to get introduced to her knew friend Sierra who may or may not be important. She'll be heading to Pandora soon which means that she'll be reunited with her father and her siblings. But not before running into a few... complications.

Let me know if you have any likes or dislikes and I'll try to add it into my next chapter. If not I will update you again in two weeks <3

~ Jo