Finally alive (Book 1)

XII

Next morning I found out that hangovers reach through the link. When I rip my eyes open, I am met with a pounding headache. Dreading of even moving, I shimmy deeper into my covers and try to breathe as shallowly as possible.

'What is up with you two?' Grace's voice rings so loudly, I let out a pained moan.

'Could you not shout?' Jake demanded from his bunk, sounding muffled.

'No, I can't. You two are late.'

'Give us a break, doc.' Jake groans as I peek out from the covers. Grace stood looming above us two, her hands on her hips.

'We had a drink or two too many yesterday, so..' I try to explain.

'I don't really care what you did yesterday. You have a job to do.' she keeps her tone high, making my head pound even more.

'Unless you have something for a hangover, I'm not moving.' Jake was stubborn this morning.

'Well, how about a boot up your butt?' she offers ever so eloquently, leaving us frowning.

'She's cheerful today.' I say, squinting towards the marine.

He hums, shrugging, as he slowly shifts upwards. Reluctant to leave my warm bed, I do the same. I look at him, as his eyes shifted up too.

'Don't look at me like that, twinkletoes. It was your idea to try the drinks.' I say, getting the vibe of his stare.

'Oh shut up, dancy pants.' he scoffs, hiding his smirk.

A bit later, when finally in our avatar bodies, both of us felt crappy. I sat down on a first root as we made our way down to the main area. My head was spinning now, and I felt sick to my stomach.

Jake wandered off when he saw Neytiri, leaving me alone.

I sat there, hearing people pass through, talking to each other cheerfully. I really shouldn't have drink the native alcohol.

'Are you okay?' I hear his voice and I huff lightly.

'Yeah, just a bit hungover.' I stand up, facing Tsu'tey with a small smile.

'You are still sick from the drink? It should go away shortly.' he states and I scoff involuntarily.

'Yeah, it will.' I say, leaning into one of the many tree supports

After some silence, he speaks up. 'I have an idea. Come.' turning around.

When I don't follow, he turns to me, his green eyes filled with confusion. He repeated himself, almost sounding desperate.

I raise my eyebrow, but my feet move after him, like they had the mind of their own.

'Doesn't your head hurt too?' I ask when I catch up to him, now walking in sync.

He looks at me, his right eyebrow slightly puckered. 'Just slightly. The Na'vi react to it differently.'

I hum, pouting at his statement, not really knowing what to say.

'Don't worry, you get used to it in time.' he says, a smirk appearing on his face.

I shake my head, a silly smile growing on my face. 'Where are we going?'

'It is a secret.'

Turns out the secret location was quite close, so we reached it quite quickly on foot. I ask him several times where we were going, but he had this mysterious smile, driving me insane.

He disappears between the bushes, and I jump forwards to catch up with him. I lose my balance, tripping on a root. Before I fall down, hands wrap around me, making me gasp.

When I come to my wits, I look up and see his face closer than I would expect. His green eyes were wide, shock clear in them. His mouth was slightly open too, as if trying to comprehend what just happened.

I speak up first. 'So, are we here?'

At these words he seemed to wake up from his stupor. I hate, and love to admit that I would rather stare into his green eyes than anything else in the world. I'd skip coffee. And sunsets.

He blinked a few times, and set me on my own feet. Both of us looked away awkwardly, as he took back his usual warrior demeanor.

'Yes. Look this way.' he points and I follow his finger. And what I see shatters my little human brain. I have never seen anything like this yet.

Just a few steps ahead of us there was a some sort of valley, similar to the Grand Canyon. But this one was not all rock. It had trees. Whole biospheres of them. Stretching as far I could see. I could make out on or two mounds in the distance. But what captured me most was the waterfall that was straight across the huge valley. It was the dominant element in the whole area.

How come I didn't come across this yet? Still in awe, I voice my question to the man next to me.

'Every hunter in Hometree knows there is nothing to hunt here.' he says matter of factly, as I let out a "mhm". I take a step forward, and peek what is below. There was surging water line, roaring loudly.

Not knowing how to take this in, I sit down a step away from the edge, still gawking at my surroundings.

'You look surprised.'

'I still am. I constantly compare this place with my homeplanet.. And when I think what humans did with it, makes me incredibly sad and angry. There is no green there.' I say heatedly, my fingers curling into fists. 'And they destroyed all the wildlife. I became a biologist so I could help them conserve and prevent the species, but no, they all were too clingy to money. Oh boy this ..'

I stop my rant, when I feel his hand on my shoulder. I turn to him. 'That sounds very awful. And I understand your sadness. But you are here, not there.' his voice sounded soothing, and with my stomach flipping with butterflies I nod. He's right. I'm here now.

I should let go of the past. However hard and bittersweet it might be.

'Can you tell me more stories about your life? The kids will want more of them tonight.' he says, relaxed and so bloody gorgeous. Shaking my head from all random thoughts.

'I might run out of them soon, Tsu'tey.' I giggle, crossing my legs more comfortably.

'I am sure you will not.' he reassures me again, making my stomach do flips again.

Bloody hell.