all things between || Avatar Universe

12 - A Cup of Air

Since Neteyam left Sabrina alone in the woods, with nothing but her Exopack and a path back to her father, the human girl had never felt the same.

Everything was pointless, useless. Sabrina, herself, felt like she was all those things. The days were blurred, and she had no idea what day it was when Jake Sully called the scientists' compound and asked for aid.

Surely, she thought, it must have been more than a month. It had been two months, actually, almost three, but Sabrina didn't realise it.

It doesn't matter how long it has been, she thought, I'm going to see them again!

To Norm, Sabrina seemed like a phantom. They packed through the night, and the girl was speechless, white as a ghost and walking like a zombie. Her father monitored her movements, wondering when she would snap. She didn't.

It only was because he couldn't take a look at her mind. Sabrina's thoughts were nonstop — she was overthinking it all, imagining, rehearsing. What was she going to do? What was she going to say when she saw her old friends? When did she see Neteyam?

"Are you okay?"

Her father's question lingered in silence before Sabrina thought of answering.

"I am, dad," she said. "Just finishing packing the filters for the oxygen masks."

"You're going with Max and my avatar, okay? So when you get there on the plane, I'll be in my avatar," Norm explained before leaving his daughter alone in her room to gather her things.

Sabrina had no idea of what to expect from the coordinates. So she picked some warm clothes, some light ones, and two sneakers, just in case. It was a big bag from a trip supposed to be short —after all, none of them hoped Kiri would need much care, and they expected they cure her quickly.

Max Patel was already waiting for her by the aircraft, and she saw that her father's avatar rested over the pilot's spot, lingering for the connection. When it happened, Sabrina didn't get scared — she was very familiar with both of her father's life forms. It was something the daughter had never asked but always wondered — had it been her mother the one to teach Norm how to pilot, or had he learned on his own? Did he think of Trudy when doing so?

Sabrina had stayed away from her gun and knives, scared of the memories. She didn't even wander around pigmented fronts, afraid to see Spider's features in the face of the other humans amongst the Ometicaya clan. The sight of an arrow startled her core — especially when the thing would get rescued by another Na'vi other than Neteyam.

Even Jake Sully, who she rarely talked to, was someone she missed. Indeed they weren't friends, but they had their talks while Norm was around, and the human girl liked debating politics with Jake, especially because she always felt like she knew more than him — even though he was older and had been on Earth. It was because she read more, and so, of course, she accumulated more knowledge.

The travel was easygoing. The aircraft had no trouble, and Sabrina's father was a surprisingly great flyer — and a great teacher, too, because, before landing, he handed the control over to Dr Max, who took over smoothly. Sabrina wondered if one of them would teach her to pilot; she liked flying very much. The ikran ride had been more awesome, but the plane wasn't too bad. Besides, she could have an aircraft of her own, whereas she'd never get her own banshee.

"It's here," Norm said, pointing towards an island below them. While Max landed, Norm got through the open part of the plane to signal his pacific coming. Sabrina overheard her father say that the clan Jake had picked wasn't very friendly to newcomers, so painting the spacecraft and allowing Norm's avatar body to salute first was their best plan to get in successfully.