I See You

Six

The morning after the wedding, Aya woke up and smiled at Sylvirah, who was already awake. "I enjoyed the wedding, darling girl," she said. "So did I," Aya replied. They went to the ground floor of Hometree to see Neytiri, only to learn that she was teaching Jake Sully about tsaheylu in the forest. "Something tells me that we're going to see less of Neytiri while she's teaching Jake our ways," Aya said. "I was thinking the same thing. But look on the bright side, we have each other for company," Sylvirah replied optimistically. "I just realized something," Aya said. "What?" Sylvirah asked curiously. "It's been a year since we got together," Aya replied with a smile. "Wow. It's been that long already?" Sylvirah asked in surprise. "Yeah. So much has happened since then," Aya remarked. They decided to spend the day running Sylvirah's training course, but it wasn't long before everything went wrong.

"Come on, my love, keep up!" Aya called over her shoulder to Sylvirah. What she didn't see was one of her father's Marines hiding in the bushes, but Sylvirah saw him. "Aya, look out!" Sylvirah cried, but she was too late. Just as Aya turned to see what Sylvirah was talking about, several gunshots rang out before the Marine tried to make his escape. Two of the bullets hit Aya in the chest, with the remaining two hitting her shoulder and grazing her leg just above the knee. She was knocked off her feet by the force of the impact, while Sylvirah let out a cry of fury and quickly aimed and shot the Marine with an arrow, hitting him in the back of the head. She slung her bow across her torso and went to Aya's side to help her. Improvising, she fashioned a covering for Aya's chest wounds using a few large leaves, tying them tightly with some vines, which caused Aya to hiss in pain. She did so again for Aya's shoulder, keeping the blood loss from getting out of hand, making Aya hiss again. "I know it hurts. I'm going to get you some help, I promise," Sylvirah reassured her, gently picking her up and carrying her back to Hometree.

"Will she be okay?" Sylvirah asked her mother. "Once I get the bullets out, she should be fine. It's a good thing that you immediately covered her wounds, otherwise she may not have made it here," Mo'at replied, and Sylvirah breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you let me know when you're done taking the bullets out? I'd rather not watch," Sylvirah said, and Mo'at nodded. Sylvirah left to try to clear her head and process what had just happened. She was furious with the Sky People for attacking her mate and wife unprovoked. She wanted to hurt every last one of them, but she knew that it wouldn't solve anything, and she would most likely be killed before she could do much. When she stopped to think, she recalled that her clan was allowing a Marine to learn their ways, which made her angrier. Because of one of the Sky People's warriors, Aya had been seriously injured, and as the sight of her wife laying on the ground after being shot came back to her, Sylvirah couldn't stop the tears that suddenly overwhelmed her. She hardly noticed when Mo'at gently pulled her into a hug, instinctively laying her head on her mother's shoulder. "It is okay, my child. Just let it all out," Mo'at said softly as Sylvirah continued to cry.

 After what felt like an eternity, Sylvirah finally managed to calm down and acknowledge her mother's presence. "You can come and see Aya now. It wasn't easy, but I was able to remove the bullets from her body," Mo'at informed her. Naturally, Sylvirah was desperate to see Aya again, and followed her mother back to Hometree, where she found Aya lying where she had last seen her. At the sight, she ran to her, gently stroking her face and speaking softly to her. When she gently hugged Aya, she found that her breath was faint, her heart beat slow. Barely holding back a cry of pain, Sylvirah realized that Aya was in a comatose state, and it could take days for her to awaken. "I know that it's hard for you to see her like this, Sylvirah. She will awaken when the time is right," Mo'at said, putting her hand on Sylvirah's shoulder. "I don't understand. The man who shot her did so without provocation. Like he was told to kill one of us on sight if he got the chance, no matter what," Sylvirah said. "I wouldn't put it past them. They call us savages, and then they go and do something like this," Mo'at replied bitterly.

Near the end of the day, Neytiri and Jake visited Sylvirah to see how she was holding up, having heard about what happened. "Is she going to be okay?" Neytiri asked Sylvirah. "Mother said that she should be fine now, but she's in a coma," Sylvirah replied. "Who did this?" Jake asked her. "One of the Sky People's warriors, like you, Sully," Sylvirah spat venomously. "Hey, I had nothing to do with it," he said, arms raised in surrender. "Doesn't matter. I don't like your people. Marines, or whatever you call them. It's because of Sky People like you that my sister is dead and my mate is in a coma," Sylvirah replied, using every ounce of her willpower she possessed to keep herself from lashing out and attacking him. "I'll leave you alone. I promise," Jake said, turning around and leaving without another word. "Sylvirah, there's more to what happened to Aya, isn't there? Mother told me that you hadn't told her what happened to the one who attacked her," Neytiri said. "It's none of your business," Sylvirah replied bitterly. "You killed him, didn't you?" Neytiri pressed, and Sylvirah stayed silent. "I'll take that as a yes. What I want to know is, why did you do it?" Neytiri asked. "He attacked us for no reason, and I was in a rage. I wasn't thinking properly," Sylvirah said after a brief pause. "I see," Neytiri said simply. "I don't think I would have done anything differently if I had been thinking clearly, though," Sylvirah replied. "Of course. I would expect nothing less from you, Sylvirah," Neytiri said, "You've always followed your heart, no matter what anyone else tries to tell you." "I just hope Aya wakes up soon," Sylvirah replied simply. "She'll wake up, Sylvirah. I know she will. She's one of the toughest people I've ever met, and also one of the most stubborn. She can do anything she sets her mind to," Neytiri said optimistically.

Sylvirah spent all of her time looking after Aya, hoping that she would wake up. The longer it took, the more hope Sylvirah lost. She told Aya that she loved her as often as she could, even though she was aware that Aya probably couldn't hear her. On the third night of Aya's coma, Sylvirah had fallen asleep beside her, holding her hand, dreaming of the time they had spent together. She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand, but didn't wake up, even when it happened several more times. She finally jolted awake when she felt something squeeze her hand hard enough that it hurt. "I'm awake!" She exclaimed when she sat up, and she tried to get up. The only thing that happened was that she fell on her back, pulling Aya on top of her. "Next time, try grabbing a more stable object," Aya said, and Sylvirah's eyes widened. "You're awake!" She said, throwing her arms around her wife, holding her tight. "I'm happy to see you too," Aya said. "You look as beautiful as ever, darling girl," Sylvirah said, lightly kissing Aya. "Oh, come on. I know for a fact that you can do a lot better than that," Aya said, and Sylvirah responded by pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss that took her breath away. "Now that's more like it!" Aya said after a moment. "You're welcome," Sylvirah said with a huge grin on her face, which Aya shared. After a few minutes, Sylvirah brought Aya back to their hammocks in Hometree, where they both fell asleep shortly after getting comfortable.

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Here's a new meme I made:

Until next time!