Pandora's Call

Chapter Seven: After All This Time?

The figure rushed in and grabbed Zora off the ground nearly picking her up, he dragged her out of sight and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Who are you and how do you know Tommy?" He demanded.

Zora trying to concentrate on the question he was asking she just stared at his face seeing so many details resembling Tommy. Dreadlocks, he was dressed like a true Na'vi.

"Answer me!" He growled, shaking her.

"He was my husband!" Zora yelled back, scared.

"Tommy wasn't married, he died before he got the chance, who sent you here!" He demanded again.

"Nobody sent me, I- I signed up to start the work Tommy never got the chance to start. He was killed on our wedding day. I paid the council almost my whole savings to have the chance to have his last name. My name is Zora please, I'm sorry!" Zora pleaded.

The grip on her shoulders lifted and the man took a step back with wide eyes.

"Zora." He stated, almost asking if that's what she told him.

"Yes, Zora." She replied hesitantly.

He rushed in and hugged her tightly.

"I can't believe it's you!" He said laughing.

Zora hugged back, confused but not turning down the offer to hug the man that looks like her dead husband in Avatar form.

"Who are you? You look just like To-" She stopped.

"Oh. My. God. Jake?" She asked, like she was seeing a ghost.

"Yeah." He replied, not sure what to do.

She smacked him in the chest,

"I was worried sick about you for years! I thought you were dead, you disappeared after Tommy's funeral!" She shouted.

"I have a lot of explaining to do, but Zora I need you to listen to me." Jake said, setting his hands on her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes.

"You can not trust these people, Zora. The RDA is not what it was advertised as back on Earth." Jake explained.

"You're the one that led the war, stole the Avatar." Zora stated.

"Yes, but I'm Na'vi now. My human body is long gone." Jake explained.

Zora raised an eyebrow at him,

"What?" She asked after a second.

"I have a lot to teach you, but please trust me. Don't let them find out you saw me." Jake said, starting to look worried.

"Jake, they want to fix relations not destroy them." Zora tried explaining.

"Zora, they're gunning for me. We sent the RDA back to earth years ago, they knew what was happening here. I'm sure there was a whole huge recruitment cycle, letting people join within months' notice. It's because they're here to take Pandora once and for all. You can't talk about Tommy or me at the base. It's for your own safety and mine. Please" Jake pleaded.

"Okay." Zora said, looking at Jake's face.

"You need to go, they'll be gunships looking for you." Jake said, looking up at the sky.

"I'll see you again and I'll explain more. We'll meet here, go." Jake said, giving Zora another hug.

"God, it's so nice to see you, Zora." Jake said, touching his hand to her cheek and smiling.

"You too Jake." Zora said, smiling back.

In a few moments Jake was gone, Zora blinked her eyes a few times and walked back to the tree she was sitting against. She sat down in the same position, and set her hands on her head. She heard the rumble of a gunship and stood up, she looked in the air trying to focus on the blob in the sky. She followed the blurry gunship's direction in the sky, she came to a small waterfall and stopped.

"I can't keep going with my vision like this. I need to just sit tight." Zora muttered to herself walking back to the tree. She punched the tree in anger, groaning at the solid thud the tree responded with. She looked at her blue hand now tinged with red and sighed.

The thudding returned and Zora walked out into the open. The dark green blob returned in the air and Zora waved her hands into the air. The Scorpion came into a more detailed view and started to land down by the riverbank. Zora squinted her eyes and put her arm over her head to shield the rocks and sand flying towards her. The disengagement sound of the rotor shutting down allowed Zora to remove her hand. She watched as Quaritch ran up to her.

"Oh my God, you're alive?" He yelled.

He stood in front of Zora softly placing his hands on her face and lifting it to look for any injuries. He towered over her checking the back of her head, then trailed down with his eyes and landed on her hand. Zora watched as his face fell, noticing the drying blood on her hands.

"It's just a scratch, I thought you were dead, that was one hell of a drop." Quaritch said, looking into Zora's eyes.

Zora blinked a couple more times as Quaritch reached into his pocket and grabbed a flashlight. He softly placed his free hand on Zora's face and swept the light into view of her eye. A small look of concern appeared on his face.

"Come on, let's get you to the base to see medical." He said, sighing.

He led Zora to the gunship and helped her inside. She sat in the middle leaning against the firewall. Quaritch climbed in and did the same on the opposite side.

"Come here." He said.

"What do you mean?" Zora asked.

"I'm not going to let your head bounce off the firewall and cause more harm to your head. So come here." Quaritch replied sternly.

Zora crawled over to Quaritch and sat between his outstretched legs and leaned back on his chest. He knocked on the window to let the pilot know they were ready for take-off. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed, setting his head back against the glass. Zora felt how warm Quaritch's arms were, she traced the bioluminescent lines on his arms. She admired the slightly darker shade of blue he was compared to her Avatar. Quaritch slightly turned his head looking down with a curious eyebrow raised. She sighed, not noticing Quaritch watching her trace his arm up and down. She adjusted her shoulders to sink into Quaritch more, closing her eyes.