Chapter 1
Jake Sully dreams of many things. He dreams of Toruk, he dreams of Grace, he dreams of life before Neytiri.
In his dreams, he's surrounded by his family. His mom and dad, his aunt and uncle, their children, his brother, his own daughters. Things changed when he died. The family's pride and joy, the one that went to college. It was exhausting, being looked over for his brother, but he lived with it.
He had a girlfriend, but she left. Pretty sure she left for Canada, but he never got any confirmation. He supposed now, in an entirely different body, with a different life in a different world, it doesn't really matter, merely a light sting and some unanswered questions. It didn't weigh on him so heavily anymore. His children, he'd miss them. It felt like they were his only certainty in life, people he could still protect, legs be damned. But they were in the care of his parents, so he's sure they're safe.
As safe as you can be on earth, he supposed.
Still, he missed them. The guilt of essentially abandoning them without so much as a goodbye weighs on him heavily, like a chain around his neck. And even worse, he never told anyone. Everyone thinks he's some noble hero who decided to betray humanity once he could finally See. He's pretty sure he's experiencing imposter syndrome, unfortunately. He definitely deserves it.
He can't help but wonder where they are now.
–------
In the forest, cradled by steril white walls and metal machines, a man awoke. All around him, blurry faces came into view. There was a bright light, akin to a blazing sun in his vision. He reached his hand out, blue skin foreign and familiar all at once. Slowly, he felt the rest of his body–, wiggling his toes and blinking his eyes. He could hear the low thrum of his heartbeat in his ears, like the rhythm of a mighty drum. What is–, where–, who—,
Desperately, he took his first breath since he opened his eyes. His lungs felt like they were on fire, reinflating themselves with air. Unwillingly, tears pricked his eyes, a shuddering breath escaping his gritted teeth, like some kind of failed sob.
"Tommy? Tommy, are you with us?"
The voice sounded curious. It was so strange, how loud it sounded. He had the feeling that voices didn't sound like this before. Looking around, he was engulfed in white–, white gloves, white coats, white walls.
"Tommy Sully, can you give us confirmation that you are awake right now?" They asked, "Say something."
And then suddenly, colour didn't matter. He was breathing! He was alive! The euphoria of breathing, of finally having oxygen in his system was starting to kick in. He was light headed, but in a good way! He felt like he could reach up and touch the ceiling, hell, like he could reach up and touch the stars while laying down. He took another deep breath, before he started giggling. He faced the doctor with a shit-eating grin.
"Something."
–--------
"We're so glad you took up on our offer, Miss Sully." A man from behind a desk spoke, but silenced as the young woman before him spoke. "I will not be referred to by that name." Her voice was cold and unwavering, matched only by her steely gaze. "Of course, Miss Mel. I trust you don't need to be briefed about your mission?"
Dahlia Mel, otherwise known as Lillian Sully, was a cold woman. On the taller side of women in her family, she stood at a mighty 5'4 ft. Half her face bore a burn, singing away her eyebrows and lashes. The flesh on her cheek had melted away, revealing the gums and teeth that lined her mouth. Her hair was brown and hung limply, cut a bit below her chin. Her eyes were a brown shade, dark and lifeless. She was lithe, with endless scars littering across her body.
She wore a black tank top and plants, the cloth hugging her body. Her posture was rigid and straight, and her expression was kept blank.
"You'll meet the rest of your squad soon. But first, you'll be speaking to our main asset, the researcher." She nodded.
–-----
She was looking at her fathers face, his new one. Or–, his real face, depending on who you ask. Blue skin splotched with white, reminiscent of stars. Blue stripes lined his body, the same way they did for every Omaticaya. His hair was buzzed short, with only a long braid behind him. His eyes were wide and yellow, glinting even without any light.
"That's Tommy Sully, our most important researcher. Your assignment is to protect him." He spoke clearly, as if hearing those words weren't like getting hit by a semi. Tommy. Tommy, her dead uncle. Her uncle who is dead. Dead Tommy. That Tommy? The dead uncle? That one?
Her incredulousness apparently made it to her face, as the man laughed. "Get acquainted with him. You'll be spending a lot of time together."
–------
The room stilled as she entered. Brown hair and brown eyes, round cheeeeeks----cheek. Why was she missing a cheek? Where is her eyebrow?
"Uncle?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper, like speaking his name alone would cause him to disappear. "Lily?" He asked back, just as unsure. "What're you doing here?" He continued, pushing himself off the table. "I work here now," she responded, "What're you doing here?" He paused as he approached her. "I also work here."
She shook her head. "No, I mean what're you doing here. How are you here?" Her voice cracked at the end. Slowly, he took a knee, even leaning down towards her so they'd be on eye level. "Remember how I told you and your sister that one day I would come back as a zombie and eat your brains?" She shuddered, but otherwise stayed silent. "Well, I wasn't joking. I'm basically a zombie in a na'vi body. Except I don't eat brains." He explained. "At least, not yet."
She smiled at that. Her eyes were glossy, and her bottom lip wobbled just slightly. Gently, he pulled her towards him, wrapping his now enormous arms (was he made with muscle?) Around her. She buried her face into her shoulder, sobs seeming to wrack her frame. Even though she was an adult now, she felt just like a little girl in his arms.
"Hey," he said softly, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here now." He rubbed soft circles into her back, not particularly knowing what to do. "Not goin' anywhere, Bumblebee. I promise." She was Bumblebee, and her sister was Ladybug. They were his 2 favourite bugs when he was learning about insect species on earth. He named his 2 favourite girls after them as well.
"I missed you." She said through her tears, pulling away from him. With warm hands, he wiped them away. "Missed you too. Heaven was pretty boring, really needed someone trying to bite my ankles all the time." That managed to get a laugh out of her. "Yeah right. I think being on fire and getting poked with a pitchfork was enough." He gasped dramatically.
"We should go. You have your research to get back to," she said, "and I have to make sure you don't die while doing it." He laughed as he pinched her cheek, pulling lightly. "Aww, are you my bodyguard now?" He asked teasingly. "What about the others? Are they here?" He asked curiously, a light smile on his face.
Said smile disappeared quite soon at her reaction. She was stiff and rigid, and all of a sudden she couldn't look him in the eye. "Lils?" He asked. With a shuddering breath, she turned her sad gaze towards him. "I–," she seemed to struggle with herself, debating, before relenting, "I think you should sit down, please."
With trudging steps, he sat down on the table he awoke on. Lily took a deep breath, taking his hands into her own and wrapping hers around them, as if trying to shield them. "They're……They're gone. Forever." She swallowed hard, keeping her eyes trained on him. He didn't understand. Gone? Gone, as in they're on another planet? Gone as in…..permanent gone?
"It was so long ago. These people, they broke into our house and they…" she shuddered, squeezing his hand. "I was the only one who escaped. That's why I look like this now." She gestured towards her face.
The words didn't compute. People broke in? Why? His family didn't have any money or valuables. Sure they lived in a dangerous neighbourhood, but these days, everywhere was dangerous! So why–, why? Why his family? Why, when he just gets back, are they gone? This wasn't fair, it didn't make sense.
"Why?" He managed, the words slipping out in a pained whisper. She flinched slightly. "Jake did some things on Pandora. I guess it was about revenge." She answered, and though sad, she sounded sure of herself. However, Jake? What would Jake be doing on Pandora? Is he still here? Was he spared from whatever their family went through? Did he look after Lily?
"I–, I don't understand," he whispered, squeezing her hand right back, "What's Jake doing here? Why didn't he also come? What did he do?" Questions rattled off his tongue. For the first time since he's been alive in this body, he feels like he can't breathe. It doesn't feel real, not at all. His family couldn't be dead. It couldn't be Jake's fault. It couldn't, it couldn't, it couldn't!
"Jake went to Pandora after you died. Something about an avatar. I don't really know what happened, but he started a war with the RDA and made them leave. He's kind of their leader now."
That left him with more questions. Jake started a war? Did he join the Omaticaya? How? They were a pretty exclusive people, as far as letting outsiders known for their murderous intent into their clan goes. Last he heard, Dr Grace, even with the whole school thing, could barely mame relations smoother. Speaking of her, where is she? She wasn't part of the recom program, but she was part of avatar. Her body would be the most heavily protected out of all of them due to her being the head researcher and the only one making major progress with the Na'vi.
"Maybe you should lie down. No one's expecting you to do anything after you just got…remade?" She suggested, though sounded unsure of the last bit. Following her advice, he pressed his back against the table. He closed his eyes because God, do bright lights burn. The room remained silent for a while.
"So I guess that since today is your first day in this body," she said as she leaned over to look at him. "Today's your literal birth day. Does that make me older?" She broke the silence, and Tommy offered her a tired smile and a flick to the forehead. "No, today is my rebirth day. Still older." She pouted. "Think about this logically. You were born today–", he cuts her off, "I existed before today so I wasn't actually–"
–-------
Jake Sully looked over the horizon. The forest was a vast expanse of green beneath the sky, slowly coming to life as the slumbering creatures awoke. The sky was a pale blue as Alpha Centauri made her appearance. The night sky gave way to a beautiful, peaceful early morning. At times like these, he was thankful to wake up so early.
"Ma Jake?" Whispered Neytiri from behind him. "What are you thinking of?" She asked, wrapping her slender arms around his waist and placing her head on his shoulder. "Nothing, really," He responded, "I just have a good feeling about today."