✰
JAKE SULLY was scared. Sometimes he'd wonder what would've happened if Tom hadn't died. He wished that the peaceful life he had with the kids and Neytiri lasted longer. What if Grace had survived that gunshot? Having lost a child to the war makes him regret a lot of things. After racing around the whole ship, killing any Sky People who came into his sight, he finally reached his location. However, he had only seen Tuk and not Kiri.
"Dad! Dad." The youngest whispers softly, trying to get closer to her father.
"Okay. Where's your sister? Where is she? Where is she?" Jake asked, and adrenaline was rushing all around his body for different reasons. He laid his hands on Tuk's shoulders.
"That way. That way."
"Okay. Stay behind me." He orders, looking forward, only to see Quaritch turning the corner with Kiri to his chest and a knife to her throat.
"Kiri!" Tuk whines, almost letting out a sob.
"Runnin' out of time here, Corporal. You already lost one kid today. You really wanna lose another." He taunts, his eyebrows furrowing the more he looks at Jake. Kiri lay on his chest, and he couldn't do anything about it. Without knowing it, Jake inches forward, grunting.
"Do not test me!" Quaritch sneers, tightening the grip on Kiri's throat.
"Just kill him, Dad!" Then Quaritch tightens the knife to her throat once again, silencing the girl.
"Kiri."
"Weapons down."
"Don't. Don't do it."
"Down!" Quaritch demands as Jake obeys.
"Kick em' away." He pauses, looking down at Jake. "Do it!"
Jake had no choice but to obey. Quaritch then grabs some orange cuffs from behind, throwing them to the floor.
"Cuff yourself."
"No! No, don't hurt her, okay?" Spider comes running from around the corner. "Don't."
"Stand there!" He shouts at the young boy as Jake picks up the cuffs. "Don't move! Not a step!"
He then faces Jake again. "Cuffs on. Now."
"You son of a bitch." Jake cursed at the man. Neytiri runs around the same corner. Spider did grab the boy by his neck, holding him the same way Quaritch was holding Kiri.
"Release. Or I cut."
"What, you think I care about some kid?" He pauses and shakes his head. "He's not mine. We're not even the same species."
"Just please.. please don't hurt her. Just please let her go." Spider perseveres and asks again. "Please!"
"Don't kill him." Kiri murmurs.
"Listen to me. Let her go. Don't hurt her."
"Mom, don't kill him."
"A son for a son." Neytiri hisses at the man.
"Please don't hurt her." Spider begs again.
Neytiri slices his chest in hope that Quaritch will let her daughter go, causing him to yell.
"I cut."
"Please just let her go, okay? Please just let her go." Neytiri turns and raises her knife at the boy, as slicing his chest wasn't convincing enough.
"No!" Quaritch gives in, releasing the girl to the ground, as does Neytiri with Spider after a slight hesitation.
"Spider, get em' out of here." Jake orders the human as he does what he was told.
"I owe you a death." Quaritch snarls at the woman.
"You're not leaving are you, Jake? Knowin' I'm out there. Knowin' that I'll never stop. I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'll kill your whole family." The older man threatens not lying about any word. Suddenly, at his command, Jake was prepared to fight him. The guy who had spent the past year terrorising his family's lives He was ready.
"Then let's get it done."
✰
NEYTIRI had lost many things in life. It was a long list that will most likely have no ending, but when she saw her youngest daughter fall back into the ship, she did not hesitate to go back for her.
"Go!" She urged her daughter, hoping for her survival. "Go, go, go."
"Open it!" Neytiri heard her daughter speak. The woman ran to the door, attempting to open it using all her strength despite her exhaustion. Once she successfully opens it, she tells her daughter to move back before going through. The water had pushed them out the door as it filled the ship further. The two females climbed through what looked to be the control room and then reached another door. She attempted to open it using all her strength, but the water forced it shut.
"Mom!" Tuk called out in fear as the water went up to her shoulders.
"Go, Tuk!" She pushes her daughter in front of her as she watches the water fill.
"There's no way out!" Tuk informs her mother, who is already worried for their survival.
"Oh, Great Mother. Oh, Great Mother, help us!" Neytiri pleaded, hoping for her prayers to be heard.
In that moment, Neytiri thought of her family. She thought of her three beautiful daughters. Her firstborn son and her youngest son She then thought of her mate, who treated her so well. But then she thought back to where her mother, Moat, lived. She hoped she was okay.
"Mama, I'm scared." Tuk mumbles as they duo hear metal shudder from above them.
"It is alright. Stay close to me. Stay close to Mama." The woman reassures, "It is okay."
The mother and daughter turn the other way when light is shown in their darkness. Tuk dips her head in the water.
"Kiri!"
"Oh, Kiri."
"Everything's going to be all right, little sister. Mom, I'm gonna give this to you." The girl says giving the mantle to her mother helping her breathe. "It'll help you. Trust me. Calm your heart. Big breaths. Follow me."
The new-found trio sank below the water on their way to get out of the sunken ship. Once they left the ship, Neytiri spotted a body lying on the floor and immediately realised who it was. Her Yana. She left Kiri and Tuk to swim in front and dived down further, grabbing ahold of her daughter's arm and hoisting her up to the surface.
"MaJake!" Neytiri called for her mate, struggling to hold their daughter.
"Dad!" Tuk shouts as she climbs onto Payakan's fin.
Jake hugged Neytiri, not even realising the body beside her.
"MaJake." She says as he breaks the hug, bringing his full attention to his eldest.
"Shit." He cursed. "We've got to get her to shore. Now!"
✰
AS SOON as Ilyana's body touched the sand, Jake knew what to do. Their family was surrounding Ilyana as Neytiri told all the kids to look away from the scene, not wanting to traumatise them more than they already were.
Jake placed one hand carefully on her forehead, using two fingers to open her airway. He then moved his hand from her forehead to her nose, softly pinching it and taking five breaths into her mouth. He made it look easy, but he hadn't even started. He'd never done CPR on a child before, but there's a first time for everything. He placed one hand in the middle of Ilyana's chest, pressing down on her chest thirty times, then gave the girl another breath. For the second lot of compressions, Jake tried using two hands for the other thirty compressions ahead.
And he was determined to repeat this process until his daughter come out alive.
"Come on, Yana." He urges doing more chest compressions. After a while, he felt like giving up, but when Ilyana shot up, getting rid of the liquids from her stomach, he sighed in relief.
"There you go, there you go."
He rubbed her back, allowing her to get used to her surroundings before passing out again.
Jake heard Neytiri let out a breath of relief as he took Ilyana in his arms, lifting her up. Jake eyed the wounds that decorated her body and grimaced.
"She tried to take on Quaritch on her own." Kiri told her father, recalling the memory of watching the fight.
Once Jake reached the village, Ronal and Tonowari were already there, waiting for them. Once Ronal saw Ilyana's state, she rushed her to her pod, immediately taking care of her wounds as the rest of the family took care of Neteyam's body.