Petrichor

Sempu

Jake watched his mate carefully as she lay on one of the steps of Vitrautral. Makeshift beds had been made up in advance by the Omatikaya clan for the wounded. And there was a lot of wounded. 

Tsu'tey had been forced to stay on bedrest for a day or so, but Mo'at couldn't stop him from searching for Na'vi. His injuries had been superficial compared to some. The Tsahik had just smeared some paste over them before he'd left. He was determined to fulfil the role of Olo'eyktan, and to do it well. He'd almost chewed Jake's ear off asking if the People were safe and if it was all over. 

Ilhia had been asleep since she'd collapsed. It had scared the shit out of him, and still was, but the Tsahik was confident that Eywa would provide. 

So similar to Ilhia. 

He missed her. He'd spent two nights and a morning with her, and intended to do it again that morning. She looked so peaceful. Mo'at had cleaned her shoulder, and smeared some of the same paste that she'd put on Tsu'tey onto it. It was hard to see how deep it was without the proper tools, but he was confident that they'd got the bullet out intact. 

So now it was just a waiting game. But he was an impatient bastard, and the idea of Ilhia not waking up absolutely terrified him.

He'd scouted the forest with Tsu'tey. They'd carried injured Na'vi and dead Na'vi back. And now that they were finished, it was time to take control of the RDA base. 

Jake crouched down next to her, easing himself onto his bum, one leg tucked to his chin. With gentle fingers, he stroked the side of Ilhia's face. 

He'd never had much experience with a person after shooting. People got shot, and then they died. Comas weren't a common thing that he'd saw. Comas on a foreign planet with no medical equipment was something he knew nothing about. He trusted the Tsahik to look after his mate though. And if she still wasn't better after a few days, he would get Max to come and look at her. 

And Neytiri. She was in a similar state to his mate, but she was a lot worse. Her skin was more red than blue. He'd caught Mo'at sitting at the base of Vitrautral more than once with her queue connected in a trance-like state, quietly begging for Eywa to allow her daughters to wake.  

"Ilhia!"

His ears pinned back against his head as he turned his head to see a small figure bowling towards him at a hundred miles an hour, a tall, even for Na'vi standards, woman running after him, trying to grab him. 

The kid jumped the step and landed on the other side of his mate, opposite Jake. "Sa'nu, sa'nu," he chanted, his little hand touching his mate's arm. Jake could do nothing but grin at the child, who looked startled as he looked up to see Jake sitting there, putting his fingers in his mouth. 

"Toruk Macto!" the woman gasped as she caught up, standing behind the boy. "I'm sorry, Toruk Macto, Leypa is out of place here," she said, nodding at him, and then placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. Jake only caught half of what she said, her Na'vi was so rapid with nerves. 

"Don't worry, he's fine," he said, smiling at her. The Na'vi just stared at him for a few seconds. "Uh, 'evi, uh, frawzo." 

Christ, he forgot how much he depended on Ilhia to interpret for him. His Na'vi sucked. 

The woman nodded again, her hand squeezing the kid's shoulder. "Leypa, say thank you to Toruk Macto." 

The kid, Leypa, took his fingers out of his mouth to mumble, "Irayo, Toruk Macto." 

Jake flashed him another grin. "That's alright, kid." 

The woman stood for a moment, before she crouched down behind Leypa.