bound | jake sully

CHAPTER 002 : jealous

"How is he so fast?" I grumble as I run after Jake.

I start gaining on him and then out of nowhere he skids to a stop.

He senses me behind him and he spins around and locks his arms around my waist just in time, I nearly crash into him.

"Geez, at least take me out on a date first." I joke as I push him back. He smirks.

I look at our surroundings and see that we're in the farming area. I look back at Jake and see that he's groaning and squishing his toes into the soil.

I tilt my head at him. "What?" He asks, still smiling.

"Nothing." I chuckle at his reaction. "Your looking pretty content."

He grins and breathes in a deep breath of Pandoras air.

"Hey, Marine!" Mum calls out. She looks suspiciously between us.

"Grace?" Jake asks. Mum walks over to us.

"Well who'd you expect, numb nuts? Think fast." She picks a fruit and throws it at him. I think she aimed for his face but he catches it anyway.

Jake takes a bite of the mystery fruit and moans at the taste.

"Hey sweetie." She greets me.

"Morning, Mum." I smile at her. "How's the 'research' going." I quote the air. She rolls her eyes.

"I needed a break so I just decided to link—"

Jake chokes on his fruit. "That's your daughter." He points at me. She nods while pulling me in for a hug.

"In the flesh." He looks between us, comparing our facial features. Even in avatar form we look similar.

I suddenly remember Jamie. "I have to go. Sorry." I look at both of them.

"Hey, maybe you could take Jake with you, give him a tour?" Mum suggests. I almost let out a groan.

I think for a second before agreeing. Jake and I say good bye to her, then we head back in the direction we came from.

"You didn't tell me your mother was Grace." Jake says, staring at me from the corner of his yellow eyes.

"Well, it's not exactly how I would start off a conversation 'Hey! My names Alexis, and my Mum is the Grace Augustine!' When you first meet someone do you immediately tell them who your parents are?" He laughs.

"Yeah I guess your right. Hey, can I ask a question?" "Sure."

"How long have you been here for?" He holds out his arms and motions to the sky.

I blow air past my lips and sigh. "Around eight years." I state simply, I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Eight years?!" His eyes widen. "How old are you?"

"My human body is twenty-six and this body, as well as yours, are only around seventeen." I run my blue fingers through my dark hair.

"Wait really." He looks down at himself. That's when we both realise that he's still wearing the patients robe... with his ass and tail handing out the back.

Not literally, but close.

"We need to get you come real clothes after this." He nods in agreement.

"Oi, Jamie!" I shout. I see that he found another partner to play basketball with. "Sorry I left, I had to go catch a runner, truce?" I hold out my fist.

"Of course Lex, all good." He smiles while fist bumping my awaiting hand.

"Thank god. See you later!" I say goodbye and run back to Jake.

He looks a bit jealous? I don't know, but I don't think he likes Jamie that's for sure.

After I finished the tour, I ran and got Jake some proper clothes. By now it was getting dark again and we were told it would be lights out soon.

That's too bad, I was having a great time joking around with Jake. He kept cracking inappropriate jokes that made me laugh and maybe blush.

He told me about his past and how he was a marine, also how he was paralysed from the waist down.

That explained his reaction when he first entered his avatar body.

Once we made it back to the hut Jake was told to sleep in the bed that was closest to mine. All by coincidence.

I turn around and see Jake inspecting his Heylu.

"Don't play with that you'll go blind." Mum jokingly warns him.

I snicker. He looks at me with annoyance. I just shrug.

"That's kind of freaky." He puts it down and falls backwards into his bed.

"Alright gang, lights out. Come on, scat." Mum shoos the other humans out the door and locks the metal doors with a key. She flicks off all the lights. "See you at dinner kiddies."

Everyone slowly starts returning to their human bodies and I also do the same. I pull my braid over my shoulder and I close my eyes. Seconds later I'm waking up with no tail and normal ears.

"Welcome back." Max helps me up from the Link Pod bed. He hands me a glass of water and I chug the whole thing.

I look over at the other pods and see a man who looks like Jakes avatar sit up in a Link pod.

I walk over to him.

"Hey, Jake?" I ask. His head snaps up when he heard my voice. His eyes soften when he sees my face.

"Lexi?" He asks and I nod. I look at the wheelchair and I politely bring it forward so it's easier for Jake to reach it.

"Thanks." He says and he (pretty skilfully) manages to get himself into the chair without any help. Well, I offer help but he said he likes to do it in his own.

I shut down his Link and walk with him to dinner.

"So, how was your first Link?" I ask. He smiles.

"I don't even know how to describe it. I just love being able to walk again." He looks sadly down at his legs.

I don't know what else to say so we just walk in comfortable silence. It's strange, I have only known Jake for about ten hours but it feels like I've knows him for weeks already.

After dinner I walk back to my house/hut/thing. I'm just going to call it my house.

Once I walk in I find the house empty, like the usual, mum always works overtime.

But that's okay, it gives me more time to study in peace. I look at the few pictures on the wall above my bed.

There's me, mum, my once-best-friend Neytiri, and her big sister Sylwanin, Tsu'tey and some other kids. We were so young then. Even my avatar was young. Probably around thirteen or fourteen.

I remember learning the Na'vi language with Neytiri and Sylwanin.

And I remember when Sylwanin was telling me that she and another group of young hunters set a bulldozer on fire. I remember being terrified.

I remember the gunshots. The blood. My blood.

Neytiri dragging my dying body to cover into the forest. Tsu'tey sobbing next to us with a lifeless Sylwanin in his arms.

Mum crying over my body, trying to save me. Neytiri begging to the great mother to keep me alive.

Well... that's all I could remember before passing out. Even when they pulled me out of my Link pod I was unconscious for days.

I was distraught when mum told me that the school was shut down. I would never see Neytiri or Tsu'tey ever again.

I miss them all like crazy. They were my first real friends on Pandora.

I sigh and get really for bed. First thing tomorrow myself, Jake, Norm, Trudy, mum and a trigger happy moron AKA Corporal Lyle Wainfleet are going outside the confines of the base and into the deadly but beautiful forest.