Calm Before The Storm, Jake Sully

015, The Truth.

"I can't allow it," Grace announced as she walked behind Jake sipping his drink.

Jake was becoming irritated with Grace.

This was his last thing he needed.

The last passage into becoming one of them.

To be with her.

And Grace wasn't allowing him to do because of the dangers.

At this point, Jake didn't care if it had killed him. As long as he even had the chance to pass this and become one of them.

"You're just not strong enough," Grace added onto her previous sentence.

Jake scoffed, "It's the last door— I'm going through it. You can help me, or get out of the way."

"Will you listen to me?" Grace began to Jake decided to push his way through.

"Sometimes, the Na'vi themselves die in these vision quests! The venom takes you to the edge of death and the pyschoactive alkaloid in the worm, we have no idea what that'll do in an avatar brain," Grace explained.

But, those words didn't seep into Jake's head.

"You always told me that science is about.. not knowing," Jake responded with Grace's own words.

Grace looked down at him, "No matter what you prove out there, you are still in here."

She leaned down to take his shoulder, "Right here."

Jake nodded before taking Grace's hand. He understood now, Grace was scared for him.

"I have to do this. Become one of them," Jake responded before Grace started to become impatient with Jake's attitude.

"Damnit, Jake! You can never be one of them!" Grace exclaimed.

A large exhale fell from Jake's nose at that.

"Our life out there takes billions of dollars of machinery to sustain. You visit, and you leave," Grace said as Jake continued to climb.

Then that was when Grace realised.

She figured out why he was doing this.

Not why— who.

Jake was doing this for Denahi.

"You can never be with her..." Grace said.

Jake stopped and stared up at Grace, pinioning the truth that fell from her mouth.

He didn't want to believe it.

Denahi was the only one who was keeping him sane.

Being trapped in this useless body, to becoming someone else— someone she liked.

"You know why I'm here?" Asked Jake.

Grace and Norm stopped their actions and faced to him, confused expressions.

"Quaritch sent me," Jake replied.

Norm was stricken with shock, "What?"

Jake nodded his head before continuing to speak, "Yeah. He wanted me to embed with the Omatikaya people."

Grace felt her heart drop at the explanation. She had opened her arms to Jake, took him under his wing when he was working with Quaritch.

"Find out how to screw them out of their home. By deceit or force, it didn't matter. And if it turned out by force, how best to do it," Jake explained.

Grace nodded, "And what about now, Jake?"

Now he had fell for one of them.

"I'm not that guy anymore," Jake responded before looking into Grace's eyes.

He changed... for her.

"I know," Grace replied with a soft smile.

"If I tell Quaritch the truth, he yanks me out— I never see Denahi again," Jake said before he felt his heart break.

"If I tell Denahi the truth, the clan throw me out. I lose her. Either way, Grace, I lose her," Jake said with a crack in his voice.

Jake couldn't imagine a life without Denahi now he had met her.

Gotten to know her.

"They won't understand what you've done," Norm said to Jake.

He nodded his head, eyes filling with tears.

"They don't even have a word for 'lie.' They had to learn it.. from us," Jake said.

Making this situation, all the more worse.

"I know. I taught them," Grace responded.

Jake looked up at her again— more pleading with his expression, "Grace, I've gotta go. They're waiting."

That is when she helped him into the link.

"You can't carry this burden much longer," Grace attached her hand to his shoulder.

But, typical Jake had to throw his usual 'charm' into the conversation, "It's okay. Mo'at says an alien mind probably can't survive anyways."