Chapter Text
Two morning's after Neteyam's burial, Jake took a trip to Hell's Gate.
Gently detaching from his Ikran, Bob, Jake takes a breath of Pandoran air before ringing the buzzer outside of the gate. Max answers his ring and the door opens, allowing Jake to step inside.
"Hey man," Max greets him, with a firm hand on his elbow. "You doing okay? What's up?"
Jake merely nods. "You uh, you guys got super glue or somethin?"
Max looks incredibly confused but nods anyway. "Yeah of course we do, it's in the shelf next to our first aid kit. Why do you need it though? Lo'ak or Neteyam break something again?" he asked with a laugh, but the laugh died at Jake's crestfallen face with the mentioning of his first born son. Max's expression falls. "What happened?"
"Max, I really can't talk about it right now. But I need to get back to my family with that glue. Please." he begged, his eyes searching into Max's in hopes he'd understand. Max could only nod, but his gaze hardens. "Come back and tell everyone what happened though. We're all here for you man," he adds.
Jake can only nod in appreciation and he goes to grab the glue. Waving at Norm's enthusiastic 'hello', and nodding at everyone else's own greetings, he finally grabs the glue and is about to make his way out. However, he finds himself stopping and he stares at the wall. Right there, infront of him, he sees a photo copy of his family photo, framed- the one he took just a couple months before having to leave. He walks over to it, gently putting his finger over Neteyam's face. He realized quickly then that he had lost the original sometime during battle, and when he turns around to look for Max, he realized Max was already there staring at him with a grief stricken face.
"Neteyam?" Max can only ask, his eyes blurring.
A shakey nod was his only response.
"Take it, we'll make more copies another time, just take it man. You guys need it." Max says as he walks over, his hands shaking and nearly fumbling as he takes the photo out of the frame. Handing it over to Jake, he tells him "Keep it safe," before fully letting it go. Jake can only respond with a grim smile, and he makes his way out.
Taking another deep breath of air, he looks to the forest around him that he once called home. Stopping again, he bends down as he sees Neytiri's favorite flowers growing from a small patch of grass outside Hell's Gate. He gently plucks them, looking at the soft blue petals he once gave to Neytiri when he first found out she was pregnant with Neteyam. Tears brimming his eyes, he plucks a few more and gently places them into his 'Dad Pouch' that he will never admit is a Na'vi fanny pack.
Walking over to Bob, he makes the bond as he mounts him. Looking back one more time, he mentally gives Bob the directions back to their home. He sensed Jake's distress, so he gave no fuss and quickly headed back.
Arriving back to the reefs later that day, Jake was bombarded immediately by Tuk. "Hey sweet pea," he says all while picking her up, her head immediately laying on his shoulder and her arms wrapping around him.
"I missed you," she sniffles out, evident she was crying before he came back. He shushes her gently.
"I have a surprise gift for mommy, but I'm going to need your help okay? I'm gonna need all of your guy's help. Can you go get everyone for me?"
Tuk nods as she's set down, wiping her face. "Okay, I'll go get Kiri and Spider. I think Lo'ak is hanging with Tsireya though."
"That's fine baby girl, I'll go get him. Do you know where your mom is?"
"Mom's helping Mrs. Ronal make more prayer necklaces, she told me she'll be working on that all day."
"Okay good good, we have time then for her gift. Go on, I'll see you in a few."
Tuk nods and goes inside their hut to tell Kiri and Spider of the surprise.
Jake sighs, going to look for Lo'ak. He tries first in the area the Ilu's are kept, and he's grateful that he was right in his assumptions. "Son," he called out, seeing Lo'ak look at him. "C'mere, I need your help with something."
Lo'ak looked over at Tsireya with a guilty smile, and she just gave him a laugh. "Go," she said as she shooed him away. He laughed back a little, getting up and going to his father. "Sir? You needed me?"
"Yeah, I got a surprise for your mom. We're all gonna work on it for her. You want to help?"
"Yeah, yeah of course."
Jake smiles at him, ruffling his hair. "Good kid, alright let's go."
Making their way back to the hut, Jake explains the surprise and the things they'll all need to do. Everyone readily agreed wholeheartedly, and they all got to work. Jake looked at his family, and his heart swelled seeing them all together and safe. While his grief and mourning was still fresh, he was grateful for this small moment of peace.
Nightfall quickly came apon them and Neytiri returned home as promised, and when she stepped inside she was met with the smiling faces of her family with all of their hands behind their backs. Confused, she sets down her bag with ingredients for dinner. Looking at her mate, her brows furrowed. "Ma Jake? What is this?"
Jake can only smile as Tuk is the first to walk over with one of the flowers. Then Spider and Kiri both walked over with a flower as well, and Neytiri's eyes slowly began to light up. Lo'ak then walked over with the photo, and while Neytiri's eyes seemed brighter, they also were shining with tears. Her hands shook as she held the photo close to her, her finger rubbing over Neteyam just as Jake's did. A small smile graced her lips.
"We have one more gift for you." Jake softly spoke, his hands coming out from behind him and Neytiri can only gasp. There in his hands was her father's bow, fixed. Her one empty hand can only come up to her mouth in shock and the tears from before did fall down her cheeks. "Ma Jake, this- all of this- you fixed my father's bow?"
He smiled, showing her his thumb that got super glued to his pointer finger. "Yeah, it was a bit messy though." he laughed.
Neytiri gave a watery giggle, using her free hand to hold her father's bow. Sitting down, she gently sets the photo and flowers next to her. Caressing the old wood of Hometree, Neytiri's eyes could not stop the tears from flowing. She looks up at her family and she opens her arms wide. Everyone fell in quickly, giving her a hug.
They may have 1 family member absent, but his remembrance and love stays within them. Their family may be damaged, but it is not broken. They know it will be a long and hard battle to get back to a normal routine, but they are prepared for whatever they need to face. For their family is their fortress.