Back at the human's base, Quaritch was showing all of us a video of me beating the shit out of the dozer's camera with a rock.

"Now, I never expected you to be on my side, you slut. Don't think how I didn't see earlier in the video how you were sleeping next to your Native boy toy. However, this does reflect badly on Jake over here." Quaritch stated as I glowered and looked at the ground, wanting to rip his throat out for insulting my mate like that. I also had to bite my tongue as I saw Norm sitting next to some of the army men around us, smirking at us. That bitch must love seeing us like this.

"Even so, I've noticed how you've found yourself some local tail and have forgot which team you're playing for also, Sully." He said to Jake, taking about Neytiri. I was too scared to look at my brother as I felt his eyes looking at me. I wasn't sure if his eyes said he was sorry or he hated me, but either way I was terrified to check and see.

"Parker, there is still time to salvage this situation, diploma..." Grace got cut off by the Colonel who got in her face. "Shut your pie hole!" He told her as she looked at him, offended. "Or what, Ranger Rick? You gonna shoot me?" Grace asked as a small smirk appeared on my face at her name for him.

"Thinking about it." He answered. "You need to muzzle your dog." She said to Selfridge. "You say you want to keep your people alive? You start by listening to her you rotten piece of meat." I insulted Quartich as Grace high fived me. The Colonel raised an eyebrow, not getting it.

I rolled my eyes. "Fucking dumbass, it means your old and a muscle driven meathead." I explained as he frowned as grabbed me around my neck. "I'd watch what you say, kitty cat." He threatened as he squeezed my wind pipes together. I just laughed, finding this amusing.

"Get off of him." Jake warned as I glared at him. He has no right to go acting as my brother right now. "Let go of him, Quaritch, or your gonna get a face full of mountain banshee when you get outside." Grace told him, talking about Nu'it. The Colonel let go of my neck, thankfully, but I knew he wasn't done yet.

"Parker, if you carry on with is, you will be destroying a network of trees greater than the human brain. Something only the Na'vi know how to access, able to deposit memories onto a particular site, like the one you just destroyed." The red head went back to trying to persuade Selfridge.

He nodded at her as she believed he understood. However, he just started laughing. "What have you people been smoking out there?" He questioned. "You don't understand them!" I cut in, trying to help. "I'd say we understand them just fine thanks to Jake here." Quaritch stated as he pulled up another video, this one of Jake doing his video log.

"They're not gonna give up their home. They're not gonna make a deal. For-for what? For a Lite Beer? And blue jeans? There's nothing that we have, that they want. Everything they've sent me out to do is a waste of time. They're never gonna leave Hometree." Video Jake stated as my head dropped into my hands, knowing this war was not going to stop now. And over what? Some stupid rock?

"Zen..." Jake called my name as I snapped my head up and glared at him. "How could you?! Didn't think I'd use that same phrase you said to me earlier, now did you? Guess we've both disappointed each other. Just don't talk to me right now." I shot at him and looked away, feeling Grace's hand on my shoulder.

"So, since a deal can't be made, I guess things get real simple. Jake... thanks. I'm just getting all emotional; might just give you a big, wet kiss." Quaritch said to him before moving all of us to the lab to pack up our stuff.

"Oh, Eywa... You sit on something someone wants and they make you their enemy." I mutter to myself as I hear heavy boots running in. I look up to see Trudy, one of the few familiar faces I'm happy to see here among the humans.

"Quaritch is rolling up the gun ships. He plans to hit Hometree." She informs us as I slam my hands against the table. "Dammit! I'm supposed to be one of the next leaders of the Clan and I have to sit here and do nothing! Especially while my mate is out there gearing up for war! I am not letting this happen." I snap and run up to the control room where I see Selfridge gazing out the window at all the aircrafts preparing to take off.

"Dr. Sully, Dr. Augustine, you can't be up here." An army dog tried to stop me but I stopped and hissed at him, a habit from being in my Avatar, making him back up. "Selfridge, you son of a bitch! These people- I- get off of me!" I yelled at the army guy before turning back to the short man.

"No, no, no, they're fly-bitten savages that live in a tree. All right? Look around. I don't know about you, but I see a lot of trees. They can move." He yells at me. I glare at him and get up into his face. "With the way this is going, Pandora will end up just as Earth did. Dead and sad. If you do this, there won't be anymore trees. Can't you see you're making the same mistakes we have already done on Earth?!" I shouted, my face turning red from rage.

He backed up, clearly intimidated by me. I may be considerably shorter than him, but Grace calls me firecracker for a reason. "All we want is the Unobtanium." He said more calmly. "It is never that simple, Parker Selfridge. Human greed will always overpower your thoughts and soon you will be wanting other things from this world. And it will get to the point where you will strip it dry just like our original home." I argue as I see a speck of self-doubt in his eyes.

However, any hope I had was ripped away as he shook his head. "Look. Let Jake and I talk to them. Maybe we can figure something out where you can get your damned metal and then leave." I suggested, not liking this idea, but it was the best I had. I just wanted to save the Clan - my Clan.

"Calibrate fast. Going in right now. Calibrate three, four, and five." Grace ordered to the scientists as the three of us laid down in our link units. Three soldiers followed us, to make sure we wouldn't escape or something. Selfridge leaned over mine as he stared at me. "Listen to me: you and your brother have got an hour. Unless you want your lovers in there when the axe comes down, you get them to evacuate. One hour." He warned before closing the lid.

I quickly shut my eyes, calming myself until I traveled through the nerve tube towards my second body. I gasped as I sat up, seeing Tsu'tey sitting next to me as he held my hand. He perked up once he saw me awake, helping me stand as Eytukan and Mo'at came over.

"What happened?" My mate asked as he rubbed my back as I caught my breath. Everything's been so hectic. Before I was able to answer, Neytiri, Jake, and Grace approached us. "Eytukan, we have something to say." Jake stated. "Listen." I pleaded with him him as he glanced at me before looking at the others.

"Speak." He allowed. "A great evil is upon us. The Sky People are coming... to destroy Hometree." Jake began. "Tell them they're going to be here soon." He asked no one in particular.

I decided to help him. "Father, Mother, they'll be here soon." I translated. "You have to leave soon or you're going to die." Jake added. "Are you certain of this?" Mo'at asked as she stepped forward. Jake breathed heavily for a moment before beginning to speak again.

"Look, they sent me here to learn your ways... so one day I could bring this message and that you would believe it." He said as my eyes widened. My legs began to feel weak as I collapsed into Tsu'tey who caught me with no hesitation. Neytiri grabbed his shoulder. "What are you saying, Jake? You knew this would happen?" She asked him.

"Jake, no, no you didn't. I warned you against him, I warned you!" I yelled, flashing back to our first time seeing Quaritch. I knew they were talking, but not to this extent. "Yes. Look, at first, it was just orders. And then e-everything changed, okay? I fell in love. I fell in love with the... with the forest and the Omaticaya people. With you." He tried to save himself as he tried to persuade Neytiri, who looked extremely heartbroken.

My ears were drooped as my tail was deathly still. I can't believe this. "Jake... Why?" I asked him as he looked over at me. "He promised me my legs back, Zen. Actual working legs." He replied. I grit my teeth, now angry. "You knew I was becoming a healer just to fix your spine myself. You knew, and you decided my efforts weren't quick enough and turned to some despicable man like Quaritch?" I questioned, tears filling my eyes.

I could see the regret and self-hatred in his eyes as he realized how wrongly he messed up this time, but I was too hurt. "I trusted you, we trusted you!" Neytiri yelled at him as she knocked his arms off of her shoulders. "Trust me now, please." Jake pleaded. "Go! Go away! Leave us alone, you traitor." She said to him in Na'vi as she cried.

"You will never be one of The People!" She switched back to English. "He tried to stop them." Grace tried to intervene, but her words fell on deaf ears. "Neytiri..." I muttered as I opened my arms. The heartbroken girl quickly fell into them as she sobbed, grasping at my arms just to hold onto something. Tsu'tey glared at Jake after watching the two of us try and comfort each other.

"Bind them." Father ordered as my head shot up. "Wait, why?" I asked. Even if I was the angriest I've ever been with Jake right now, I did not want him severely hurt. And Grace didn't really do anything wrong. "We cannot trust them now, flower. We have to." Tsu'tey explained soothingly before helping some of the others to tie them up.

We then moved out into the open, in front of Hometree, where they tied Grace and Jake up by their hands to an arch. "You must go now!/run to the forest!" Jake and Grace yelled as the rest of us waited. We could hear the approaching sounds of the aircrafts, making me worry.

"Tsu'tey... I highly advise against this. I don't want to see any of the Clan hurt." I try once more as he sighs and places an arm around my waist, tugging me into him. "I appreciate your concern, Zen. However, even if I did try and get everyone to back out of this myself, they would not listen to me. We are a stubborn people as we will protect our home with our lives." He explained to me just as multiple helicopters flew around into view, a gigantic one in the center of them.

I sighed in defeat before standing on my toes and kissing my mate deeply. "Just in case..." I whisper as he smiled, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "We will be fine, my little flower." He assured as I stepped back and took off my bow from around my back.

"Zen, release us and get everyone out of here!" Jake shouted at me. I glanced behind me at him. "Sorry, big brother, but I have to fight with my people." I muttered and drew my bow, releasing an arrow that landed in one of the helicopters blades, making it explode as it fell into the water. I made sure it wasn't Trudy, her having told me where she'd be beforehand.

The Na'vi cheered as the other aircrafts hovered in front of us. I was not going to let these demons destroy my newfound family. "Zen, you and Tsu'tey take the Ikran and attack from above." Father ordered after he patted me on the shoulder as his way of a compliment. We nodded and grabbed a group of the Na'vi before heading up Hometree.

We ran up the spiraling roots in the middle of the tree as I peeked through the guarding columns to see everyone firing their arrows at the helicopters, but to no such luck as I had. I then shouted in warning as missiles start to be fired at the base of the tree.

"Go, go, go!" I commanded as I pushed everyone in front of me up to the top. Hopefully we'd make it before this thing toppled. "Please be safe, everyone." I whispered to myself for the people at the bottom. "We have to go back down and help everyone!" One of the warriors exclaimed as I shook my head, turning his body back around towards the top.

"We cannot go back down there. We either make it to the top and fly away, or we go back down and burn in the flames and suffocate in the smoke. You won't help anyone that way." I advised as he frowned, but nodded, moving after the others again.

As we were nearing the top of the tree, I slowly felt it leaning to the side. "Everyone, mount your Ikran now!" I scream as I called my own. Nu'it quickly flew down from her favorite perch, screeching at me to hurry. I jumped on and formed Tsaheylu as I glanced around, making sure everyone made it out before looking for an exit.

'Go, Nu'it. Fly!' I urged as she took off with one powerful flap of her wings. She expertly dived around the falling branches and swerved past the dense clumps of leaves as she made it out of there with barely a mark on us. I searched around in the air for a headcount to see everyone I had with me made it out.

Spotting my mate, I flew over to him. "What do we do now?" I ask him as we solemnly watch as Hometree fell down, landing on the ground with a resounding noise of pain from the Earth itself that made even the air shake. The Na'vi on the ground had to try and avoid the main trunk and the falling logs and crashing branches. Those unlucky enough or too slow were squashed immediately.

Tears fell from my eyes as I watched the destruction of the home I'd come to love more than my first. Even from the sky, I could hear the anguished cries from the Clan of those who'd survived the now burning bark of the fallen Hometree.

"Meet back with those still left." Tsu'tey finally answered me. I then started to sob as our group flew towards the still living members. However, I suddenly fell back against Nu'it's back as my Avatar link was one again broken. "Zen!" I could hear my mate shout in concern as my Ikran screeched. I wasn't worried, though. I knew they'd be able to take me back to the others. And I knew I'd be able to get back to them.

~~~

Quaritch had us taken to a two man cell. The door was thick glass with air holes cut into it with two beds on either side of the walls. There was even a toilet in the corner, how luxurious.

Grace and I sat on either of the beds while Jake stayed in his wheelchair, obviously. I sat staring at my hands the whole time, my mind scarred with the images of people being crushed by the very tree they stayed to save.

Only the rattling of wheels caused me to look up, only to see Trudy rolling a cart in front of the guy guarding us. "What's going on brother, long time no see." She greeted the man as he let her into the room, walking up to her to most likely check the cart.

"Personally, I don't feel these tree-hugging traitors deserve steak." The pilot told him. "They get steak? That's bull." The guard said as he knelt down to check inside. Trudy quickly walked up behind him and pulled out her handgun, pushing it against his temple.

"Yeah, you know what that is. Down. All the way down." She directed as the man lowered himself, only to be struck in the head with the butt of the gun, consequently getting knocked out cold. "Max!" She yelled for the scientist as he ran in with the keycard.

He shoved it against the scanner, the light turning green as the door slid open. We all made our way out, Trudy in the front since she had the gun. "Trudy, go fire up the ship." Grace ordered as the younger woman nodded, handing me an extra gun as we ran ahead of them, stopping to put on oxygen masks before heading out into the helicopter garage or whatever the hell it's called. I really don't care at this point.

As I took the protectors off of the engines, Trudy started it up. Soon after, Jake and Grace came along as I'm guessing Max stayed behind. I pulled my asshole of a brother into the aircraft as bullets started to be shot at us. Grace threw Jake's wheelchair in before jumping in herself as Trudy began to raise the helicopter up.

After we successfully cleared the danger and started to head for the bunker in the mountains, Jake started cheering as I slumped against my seat. "Crap..." I hear Grace mutter as I look over to see her hand covered with blood. "Grace?!" I exclaim, shooting straight up as I leant over to her.

"This is gonna ruin my whole day." She tried to joke as I shushed her. "You are not going to die on me Grace, so help me Eywa..." I mutter to myself as I tore a piece of my shirt off, pushing it against her wound to control the bleeding.

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Grace dying destroyed me as a child.

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