Heart & Soul - An Avatar Fanfiction

↞ Their world. Their rules. Their way ↠

"That is tsaheylu... the bond... Feel her. Feel her heartbeat, her breath. Feel her strong legs."

Rune sat at her desk, an open notebook to her left, a computer screen with an incident report write up in front of her, and a sketchbook with a half started drawing of the Home Tree to her right. It was early in the morning, maybe six thirty, and Rune would have to be heading off to the Links with Jake soon. She twiddled a pencil in her hand as she stared at the second sketchbook in the crook of her arm, the Omatikaya totem carefully drawn. The Na'vi called it lo'a.

She was sitting in her office, waiting from Norm to come join her for the day so she could give him a rundown of what she saw the evening prior. She new her sights would get him excited and get the analytical cogs whirring inside of his brain.
She'd also have to give him something to do for this week, considering that all Avatars, either than Rune's and Jake's were placed on lockdown, not to leave the compound until further notice. Their little field trip hadn't exactly gone to plan, and Selfridge didn't like that, especially since he almost lost two very expensive assets.
Their little field trip had also earnt the four of them an earful from the small man, who was sure to let them know that he was pissed. Rune chuckled at the thought of Selfridge turning red from rage.

She turned her focus back to her illustration, bringing the lead down onto the paper in a curving sweep, sketching the outline of the Toruk skulls top crest. She went to sketch out the bottom crest, but something stopped her, and she dropped her pencil.
She could feel it coming before she saw it.

She lifted up both of her hands, staring at them, noticing the uncontrolled movements start to spread through them. First the shakes were barely noticeable, just little smooth tremors, then they got worse, turning into irregular, sporadic spasms, until they finally developed into a constant harsh shakes, throughout all of her hands.

The Tremors.

They were back.

Then again, they never really left.

Rune gazed at her hands, sucking in a sharp sigh, both of pain and disappointment, disappointment in herself, or maybe no one.
These tremors, these shakes, they appeared when they wanted to, whenever, wherever. They appeared when Rune was stressed, when she was tired, when she was thinking too hard or too fast, when she was anxious, when she was remembering everything she wish she wouldn't.
Right now, she was thinking too fast and too hard. She had so many thoughts in that little head of hers.

Her hands tensed and she tried to fold them into fists, but her muscles were too strained. So she put them in her lap, and bent her head, rocking slightly, trying to stop everything. 

"Hey, Rune? Are you alright?" she heard a voice ask.

Her eyes shot up and so did her head, and she looked Norm dead in the eyes, seeing he was clearly disturbed.
Her fellow anthropologist was standing at the front of her desk, book under his arm, a cup of hot beverage in each hand. His shirt was dorkily tucked into his pants. He stared at her, shocked, and she stared at him.
Norm quickly set the mugs in his hands down on the table and dropped his book, rushing over to her side, concerned for the woman.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

Rune gave him a pitiful smile, her voice pitching a note too high as she tried to hide her hands in her pockets, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I promise."

But this didn't satisfy the man, who was only concerned for her wellbeing, "Do you need help? Do I need to get Grace?"

"Oh god no!" Rune whispered at him, "Please don't get Grace... I'm fine. Alright?"