five. can we be friends?
IT HAS BEEN A WHILE NOW SINCE JAKE JOINED THE NA'VI. Juniper noticed Jake's attempts of trying to befriend the girl but was returned with a roll of her eyes every time. The Vespera girl couldn't find herself trusting the man based on who he was related to. Tom Sully is a man who brought Juniper a great deal of pain. You'd think dying and having your father killed in front of you was enough ... it wasn't.
Juniper had returned from her daily flight with Zuzip in a way to calm her mind from all the thoughts that ran by like a train. She was quick to realise the excitement of kids running through the village and almost tumbling the girl over. Her brows furrowed, her eyes darting to where they stood gathered around a woman.
The Vespera girl felt her heartbeat pick up, beating against her chest as she squinted her eyes, inspecting the Avatar, fully clothed. A smile picked up on her face, eyes blurring with tears as she took slow steps toward the group. Grace looked up from the kids surrendering her and gasped, her face beaming instantly.
The older woman picked herself up from where she crouched to the kids' level, observing the girl Na'vi in front of her. A hand was brought to her mouth, her ears perching up. Juniper's tail swayed nervously, picking at her hands. A tear fell from her eye, sliding down her cheek, and Grace was fast to wipe it away, remaining to cup the teenager's face.
"Juniper," She said, her voice making the girl melt. She chuckled and jumped into the woman's grasp, holding on as if she were to let go that Grace would disappear again. They stayed like that for a while—holding on to each other and taking in their company.
When the Vespera girl collected herself together, she pulled herself out of Grace's embrace and shook her head, "h–how? When were you allowed back in the village?" She had so many questions that she wanted to ask, yet cut it down to two.
The scientist woman smiled sweetly, "Jake Sully. He talked to the Olo'eyktan about letting me back in, and Etukyan allowed it," Juniper blinked rapidly with disbelief. She took a step back from the woman, and Grace saw the conflict laced in the girl's face, "Juniper, I get how hard it is to trust him–"
"No," The teenager sternly cut in, taking Grace by surprise, "y–you don't get it. Nobody does! Jake is related to Tom, who locked me away and hu–hurt me. He's probably the same as him. I don't trust him, nor like him. And he's been trying to get close to me or something. I don't know."
Grace knew the details of what Tom did—the damage he left imprinted on the teenage girl. Grace never second-guessed her decision about telling the Omaticaya people about Juniper and how the Vespera girl would be left in good hands. Grace would trust the Na'vi with her life when it came down to it, "he's not like Tom—at all. Jake is a good person, and maybe he really does want to get to know you. You trusted me when I came into that room and told you that you were going to be okay. Do you think you can do the same with Jake?"
Juniper sharply inhaled. The Vespera girl hated the sky people, but something was different with Grace—she truly did care about her. So if Grace was saying that Jake could be trusted, she would listen to the woman who gave her freedom, "he was the one who talked about letting you back in the village?" Grace nodded in silence. Juniper paused, "okay, I'll—I'll talk to him."
Juniper was hesitant about waltzing up to the Sully man, yet she was to fulfil the word she'd given Grace about talking to Jake. She thought about what to say to the man to get the conversation started, but nothing came to her. She frustratedly sighed, not noticing Neytiri's gaze lingering on her as she was training Jake.
Jake noticed the lack of concentration from Neytiri, and with furrowed brows, he glanced at where her line of sight was located. He saw Juniper, seemingly having a mental discussion with herself. Before Jake could say or do anything, Neytiri walked away without saying a word towards the overwhelmed teenager. He wanted to look away and give the two privacy, but his eyes were glued to the interaction.
Observing as Neytiri placed a comforting hand on the teenager, causing her to turn, her gaze met with Jake. Usually, he was the one to glance away first—but not this time. Juniper was quick to advert her eyes from Jake to anything else as Neytiri spoke. He noticed the woman turning her peel to him and reluctantly walked away from Juniper to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Neytiri didn't say anything yet gaped at Juniper, gesturing to walk up to the teenager. His mind raced with thousands of thoughts—one coming to the conclusion that this was the moment that Juniper would kill him. Standing in front of the Vespera girl, none of them said anything. It took Jake a while to tilt his head, pursing his lips awkwardly, "hey."
Juniper glanced up at him, not replying to his greeting. Instead, she sighed heavily and stammered on her words, "l–look. I haven't been the fairest to you, I admit. But, you have to understand that ... you came from the sky people, and they've done things that are unforgivable. Not only to me but also to most Na'vi. But you did talk to the Olo'ekytan to bring Grace back and she means a lot to me. She also said that I can trust you ..."
Jake didn't know where this was going but saw the wall that Juniper built to protect herself from being known as 'weak', come tumbling down. And he didn't know what to say in reply to anything about it, "so, what does this mean? For us?"
"That ... it might take me some time, but I guess we can become friends, or whatever. Or, at least, I can try to start trusting you as one of us. You've been here for a bit of time now, and Neytiri has been training you. She's also said how you're different from the rest, and you're trying to learn."
The Sully man couldn't help the raise of his lips to a grin, his teeth on display. He bowed his head for a moment before picking it up, "Oel ngati kameie."
Juniper shook her head and snickered, unable to keep her comment to herself, "you need to improve on your Na'vi. You speak it horribly," Jake raised his brows before they dropped. Juniper gulped, "but ... I see you, Jake."
"Guess we're not at the point of hugging yet?" He smirked, lighting up the tension surrounding the air between the two.
The Vespera girl glared. However, Jake saw the phantom of a smile plastered on her face, "don't push it, Sully."