dream walker | AVATAR [1]

nineteen

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"The aliens went back to their dying world. Only a few were chosen to stay. The time of great sorrow was ending. Toruk Makto was no longer needed."

Kit held her bow in her arms as she stood next to Jake, watching with sharp eyes as people walked past her in a line to get onto their ship. Na'vi on dire horses rode among the abandoned machines of Hell's Gate, claiming back the territory which had been gone for over 30 years. 

Ikran roosted on the roofs of the modules, and sting bats fluttered about, unpadded. The sentry guns are silent and inactive for the first time and gates open to the forest.  

Max, Norm, and a few of the avatars held guns as the personnel filed up the cargo ramp into the remaining shuttle. They looked angry and had theirs shoulders turned in, Kit thought they were being very overdramatic considering all the damage they'd done here. 

Selfridge shuffled past Kit and Jake, looking up at their tall bodies with the eyes of a lost soul. He met Jake's eyes one last time before disappearing into the ship. 

The zoologist's shoulders lost some of their tension when he disappeared. She knew logically that it didn't make sense for her to be afraid of the guy, but after all the chaos he and Quaritch had caused – it just seemed unlikely that she'd ever be able to look at him comfortably again. Not that she ever would, he was gone now. For good. 

Jake's hand reached for hers and squeezed it – it was nice to be there together. So much had been lost in the battle and having only been a few days since, everything was still fresh. Kit had been devastated to find none of Trudy's remains, presumably she'd been incinerated when her ship went down in a ball of fire. 

The only positive was that it must've been quick. A small mercy in a horrible thing. 

Norm had been equally sad to find out she was gone. They had finally been making progress in terms of feelings and now she was just gone? For a moment it hadn't seemed real, his ears ringing after hearing the apology fall from Kit's mouth and the zoologist embrace him in a hug. He and Kit had had a small burial for her, burying only a few photos and some of her spare dog tags which were still in Kit and her room in Hell's Gate. 

Only a few people had attended – the scientists Trudy had been friendly with who had stood up against the RDA regime, Norm, Kit and Jake. It was nice, intimate and a respectable send off for the woman who had given her life for the Na'vi people. Mo'at had even said she would pray for Trudy's soul. 

That had brought tears to Norm's eyes. He wasn't the best with women – evident by his lack of ex–girlfriends – but Trudy had started to become his everything. He looked forward to seeing her each day, listening to her talk, trying to make her laugh. He had started to understand why people seemed to do stupid things when they were in love. 

Norm gripped his gun tighter as a few of the humans glared at him. His Na'vi body would be in a healing tank for weeks as it repaired the damage that had been done before he could link again, so for now, he had to settle with his human body.