Finally, I'm updating! This is the end of this fic. Gosh, it's been such a long time since I started . I plan on writing a follow-up (the whole reason this was written :\ ) But this will probably be much later. Thank you so much for sticking with me! You guys rock! :-]
BTW, chawk1993: Yes, Neytiri is pregnant ^^
It was in these weeks that Jake and I bonded closer than I had bonded with my own mother. I felt safe with him, and I was sure he would listen to my idea. As I walked over to him one day, I recalled a conversation I'd had with Norm and Max a little while ago.
"Jake and Grace hated each other at first. Grace couldn't stand the idea of Jake replacing your dad after Tommy had trained so long."
"But then they kind of just, I don't know, connected. Kind of weird. They really loved each other after that."
"Maybe she was reminded of my father."
"Could be…"
"Uncle Jake," I said timidly.
"Lauren, hey." He smiled and pulled me into a hug. "What's up?"
"I have a question to ask."
"Alright, but if it's 'where do babies come from', I'm not answering."
We both laughed.
"No, it's not that…" I took in a deep breath. "They both loved each other…"
"What? What is it?"
"I want to bring Dr. Augustine back to life."
"Dr. Augustine?" He repeated, shock showing clearly on his face and in his tone. He lowered his voice. "How do you know about Grace?"
"Norm and Max told me the stories. I know Quaritch killed her. I want to bring her back, Uncle Jake."
He sighed, leaning back and looking at me in disbelief.
"How exactly do you think you're going to do that?" He asked.
"If I can have access to her body and the Tree of Souls, I think she can be revived. We can retrieve her soul from the tree and…I know it sounds ridiculous, but it could work. Please, we need to try!"
Jake stood, holding one hand to his forehead. He hesitated in giving any kind of an answer.
"You really think this could work?" He asked finally. I nodded firmly and watched as his hand rested on my shoulder. "Then it's worth the try."
The next day, Norm flew Jake and I back to the lab. Uncle Jake had to stay outside while we rolled the tanks out the door and strapped them to the bottom of the aircraft. I was frantic the entire time, checking if everything was stable and asking for sure that Norm could keep them intact during their flight. Uncle Jake tried to keep me calm, but I was a wreck.
"What did you tell N-Neytiri?" I asked, stuttering slightly since I hadn't added 'Aunt' to the name. Jake didn't seem to care though, and it didn't look as though he had even heard me.
"Uncle Jake? What did you tell Aunt Neytiri?" I repeated the question a bit louder. He didn't reply for a long moment, and then said,
"Nothing."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing? What do you mean by that? You didn't tell her what we're doing?"
"No. I didn't think it was really necessary."
I closed my eyes and leaned forward.
"I think I'm going to be sick," I murmured. Norm pulled a latch and a plastic bag came out of a ceiling compartment.
"Not on my floor you're not, young lady," he said with a smile.
"So we're getting Trudy too." Uncle Jake muttered to himself. "She's buried right by Grace, right?"
"Yes," Norm said seriously. I stopped talking as they chatted about something I was too dizzy to hear.
Na'vi cleared the area as the plane came down, the wind whipping the contents of the ground into the air. My uncle and I jumped out to unhook the tanks from the vehicle and place them on the ground. Norm then landed the plane off to the side. I took in the sight of the Tree of Souls. It was incredible; breathtaking…I was having trouble explaining it to myself.
"Come on, she's somewhere over here."
"Jake?" Aunt Neytiri's voice called. "Jake…what are you doing?" She stared as he bent down to Grace's resting place and fingered the soft dirt.
"We're going to bring Grace back to life," he said.
"What?"
"We're unburying Grace and brining her back to life." He looked at me. "Lauren, get the shovels."
"Jake, you may not. That will upset the balance. You cannot do this! I forbid it!"
I stood frozen in place, my eyes not knowing whether to lock onto Neytiri or Jake. They both glared at each other. Neytiri frowned, her eyes piercing their way into Jake's heart until he let up and looked away.
"Neytiri, please. We must do this."
"This goes against Eywa, Jake. All energy is only borrowed. Grace did not have enough energy to give, and so she did not receive enough to have a new life."
"I know that, Neytiri. But her energy was taken away from her from someone else. Someone else stole her energy for his own selfish reasons and then he had to give it back when he died. Grace was deprived of giving Eywa her energy, and she should be given a second chance!"
From his spot behind me, Norm nervously added,
"And Trudy too!"
Jake cupped Neytiri's cheek in his hand, looking into her eyes and speaking softly.
"We have to listen. We have to try."
Neytiri swallowed and shook her head slowly.
"Jake…"
But he was not prepared to give up.
"Please. You loved Grace too, remember? She helped you. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have been able to understand me when I met you."
That earned a smile from Neytiri. She nodded and allowed Jake to continue.
"She loved everyone here." Jake leaned in close and held her. "Think of Teyuke, or Kahtsul, or whatever we decide to name..." Uncle Jake placed a loving hand on his love's round stomach, holding it with a shine in his eye. "He needs a mother. So does Lauren. She needs someone to help her."
Neytiri thought for a moment, looking from the hand on her stomach, to me, to Norm, and finally back to Jake.
"Okay."
Norm bit his lip as he smiled. I beamed as Jake kissed Neytiri and then turned to me.
"Well? Where are those shovels?"
I was biting my fingers as Jake slid the tentacle-like vines of the Tree of Souls into the tank holding Grace's lifeless human body. She was unclothed save for the airtight mask around her face that was connected to an air tube. The vines lashed wildly for a few seconds, not used to be surrounded by liquid. When they adjusted, they attached to Grace's neck and seemed to lock in with small, thin, strings.
Jake walked over to the second tank as Neytiri and other Na'vi chanted for Grace.
"This might not work on her, Norm." I heard Jake say. Norm nodded solemnly, his hand resting on the outside of the tank and his eyes fixed firmly on Trudy's resting face.
Jake pushed the vines into the container and they went to work on Trudy's neck in the same way they had on Grace's. Everyone but Norm watched as Neytiri lifted her arms into the air and chanted louder than she had before. She stumbled forward, her voice wavering as she called to Eywa.
And then she was silent. Aunt Neytiri turned to look through the glass and asked the others to hush.
I was holding my breath, the air caught in my throat and my heart nearly stopping. The feeling of anxiousness had never set well with me. It was like watching an intense killing scene in a movie and not knowing who was going to come out alive. And as thoughts rushed rapidly in my mind...
Grace's eyes slowly opened. She took in a breath and moved one of her arms. Jake pressed against the glass and spoke to her.
"Grace? Grace, can you hear me?"
She took in a few more breaths.
"S…" She drug out a sort of hissing noise for a moment.
"Grace? Are you alright?
"S…" The same noise escaped her lips once more.
"What is it?" Jake asked frantically.
"Samples…"
The rest of us smiled. I walked up to the tank nervously and looked at Grace as Jake went over to Norm. The Na'vi began their chants again.
It was odd to stand there looking at Dr. Augustine in the tank. It was like looking at a newborn baby in its crib. She was mostly motionless, trying to remember how to move and speak. She stared back up at me, her brow furrowing.
I reminded myself I looked like a Na'vi child. I put up my five-fingered hand and she blinked a few times, probably trying to decide if her eyes were deceiving her.
She then gave up and rolled over a bit, then quickly wrung a tired arm around her chest. I smiled.
I had done it.
"Hey, pass me that syringe," Grace said. I obediently handed her what she asked.
"So, did you like it?" I asked eagerly. Grace thought a moment, sticking the needle into a root and extracting liquid from it.
"Hmm. It was alright," she replied with a smirk.
"I've been working on that story for a month. The least you could do is praise me for it."
Grace ruffled my hair and handed me a box of various liquids in glass containers.
"I liked it. But you need an ending." She pointed to a cooler behind me and turned to continue her work. I placed the samples in the cooler and looked down at my notebook.
It's been half a year since that day Grace and Trudy reopened their eyes. Grace is still my hero, and I follow her everywhere, even though I know she gets annoyed. But she'll just have to get used to it.
Trudy and Norm make an adorable pair. Norm has been able to return to lab work while Trudy takes care of all the flying. She's a pretty cool woman. Very bad-ass.
Aunt Neytiri and I are still a bit awkward around each other, but I'm sure that will end. She'll be having her baby soon. Everyone wants it to be a boy. I think it'll be adorable to have a younger cousin to play with.
Uncle Jake and I have grown inseparable. It feels like I have known him for my whole life.
My new life may not be ordinary, but somehow I feel like this is where I fit in. For once in my life, I actually feel like I fit in. For once in my life, I've slept through the nights.
I'm finally where I belong.
~Fin~
Wow, lots of page breaks ^^; Again, thank you all SO MUCH! 3 Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to leave me some criticism :-]