Petrichor

Tìyora'

"This battle is your fate."

Neytiri's words rattled through her head as she bounded through the forest on the back of a palulukan. 

She couldn't get the image of her sister's bloody and broken body from her mind. Neytiri was always so strong. 

She'd be right back. Ilhia had promised her that she'd be right back. 

The palulukan was a lone one. The demons had killed her family. She wanted revenge. She'd been sent by Eywa because Ilhia was the best choice. 

The big ship was falling. She was watching them, following the slightly smaller battleship. She saw her Jake fly over it, Toruk bright in the sky. 

The explosion rattled the earth. The very ground shook with vigor, startling the palulukan. Ilhia patted her gently, slowing down from the run. Her gaze followed the battleship as it suddenly went sideways. 

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to work out what she was seeing, the palulukan completely stationary beneath her. 

Was that ...? 

"Jake?" Her fingers were at her throat in an instant. "Jake!" 

The side of the ship exploded, but she only had eyes for the falling figure in the sky. It was him. She felt it in her belly. 

The palulukan started moving, towards the figure, where she thought he might've fallen. 

She kept the battleship in her sight as she rode, and she slowed down once more, exhaling heavily. 

Something fell from the ship. Something big and monstrous. 

Another machine. 

The war wasn't finished yet. 

With a heavy heart, she made a split second decision and changed her course. 

***

His head was reeling. He knew how hard it was to destroy a Na'vi body, but fucking hell. He'd just fallen from probably three or four klicks in the sky and was unharmed. 

Quaritch was alive. Jake had thrown the missile into the propellers, but Quaritch was still alive. 

So was Ilhia. Thank fuck. She'd commed him just when he'd started falling. He was pretty sure the only reason he wasn't in so much pain was because hearing her voice had flooded his system with both adrenaline and endorphins. 

God, he couldn't wait to kiss her, hold her tight, never let her go. Because, let's face it, he was never going to let her go. Not in a million years. He'd take a bullet for the woman that he loved. 

He wasn't far from the cabin, he realised. Jake had been in his avatar body to paint Trudy's chopper just the day before. 

And if Quaritch were still alive, he'd know exactly what the cabin was for. 

He took a moment to stop his head from spinning, putting his hands on his knees and taking deep breaths. 

"Hooo boy," he muttered to himself, scratching the side of his head. "You got this. You got this." 

"Trudy? Trudy, do you read?" 

Norm was alive. Another person that he didn't have to worry about. 

His tail flicked up as he heard screaming. He didn't hesitate for a second to sprint towards the sound. 

"Copy Norm. You okay?" 

The cabin. He leapt up to a lower hanging branch, pulling himself up and scrambling higher.