Chapter Text
The words felt like Norm placed a nail gun against his head and pressed the trigger. For years Jake has been living as a Na’vi. Not just an Avatar, but a Na’vi. One of the people. He made this decision years ago, when Neytiri was heavily pregnant with Neteyam. However the risk of a permanent fix outweighed the pros. If something happened and Jake never woke up again, he’d leave his mate without a husband. Neteyam without a father.
So Jake didn’t leave his human body permanently. He wasn’t in it as much as Norm was on his own. But he wasn’t fully in his avatar either. They sedate his human self so whenever he’s asleep he doesn’t wake up human. He’s Na’vi, he’s been Na’vi for almost ten years.
Now Norm is telling him he has to be human.
“I thought you said my condition is sustainable.” Jake states. The labs buzzing, scientists walking back and forth in preparation. Preparation he didn’t know they were doing until a few minutes ago.
Norm sighs, looking over at the Link Unit housing his unconscious human body. Wires and IVs were intertwined with one another. Dripping nutrients and sedatives into something he no longer accepts is his.
“For the short term. It’s been years now.” Norm answers, tapping the side of the unit. “Your vitals are becoming concerning. I want to make sure you stay healthy, that’s all. You’ve done this before.” He says. Norm looks more like a tired anxious doctor than a friend. It’s the only reason he doesn’t outright refuse.
“When my children were too young to understand why their father’s missing for a few days.” Jake replies. Lifting up the air mask he presses it to his mouth, breathing in.
At first Jake tried to continue living two lives. But after gaining new responsibility in the clan, his personal life and the risk of invasion he made the decision to pick one and stick with it. He chose Neytiri and his children. He also chose to not risk what happened to Grace.
That decision is finally catching up to him.
Sighing, he sets the mask down on his lap. “How long do I have to go back for?” He asks.
Norm smiles. “A week at least. Your body has basically been in a coma for ten years, with you going back for check ups every so often. We just need to remind your human body to keep breathing. We’ll also run some diagnostics on the Link Unit and fix anything that needs our attention.” He explains.
“A week.” Jake repeats. Neytiri’s going to hate being alone for a week with the kids. “What do I even tell them?” He voices aloud.
Norm doesn’t need to ask who he’s talking about. “You know you don’t have to hide this part of you from your kids.” He says and stands up. He walks over to a table and picks up a Pad, swiping it open. He clicks a few things out of the way and turns it around.
The wallpaper is of Norm, Mutxuk and their two children. Tuvat is holding onto Norm’s forearm while Mutxuk is holding onto Popiti’s shoulders. Norm swipes and the wallpaper changes to him no longer in his Avatar. Popiti’s standing next to him and smiling, almost as tall as her dad.
“It’s okay if your kids know all of you, Jake. Na’vi and human.” Norm explains, shutting the device off.
Jake looks away frowning. “They’ve never seen me like…that.” He gestures to the unit.
“‘That’ is just another version of you.” Norm replies, shrugging. “You don’t know, they might wanna see who their father was before becoming Toruk Makto.”
Jake snorts at the thought. It wasn't fully up to him. “I’ll stay here for the week. Neytiri will be able to handle them while I’m gone.” He says, finality in his tone. Norm doesn’t reply, just nodding once and heading off to get the Avatar Unit read for him.
.
“My Jake.” Neytiri greets, walking into the room. She side eyes the equipment littering the walls and beside the Link Unit’s. “You have to do this?” She asks, setting her forehead against his own.
Jake allows himself to relax into her, shutting his eyes. “It’ll only be for a little while.” He comments, reaching upwards. He sets his hand against her cheek. “Then I’ll be back with you and the kids.”
“They're already asking questions.” Neytiri huffs, leaning back.
He tries not to think about the implications, but it’s hard not to when it comes to his kids. “What are they asking?” He questions.
“About where you are, why you won’t be home, why they can’t see you.” She answers. She sucks her teeth, eyeing the Link Unit that houses his human body.
Jake followers her eyes, his own resting on the mental curvature. “They know I’m not full Na’vi, about my check ups. That’s all they need to know.” They don’t need to see him in a chair unable to stand, smaller than they are, weaker. The man in the unit isn’t their dad. Isn’t him either.
It’s the past in physical form. Sometimes he wishes to bury it, other times he wishes it never was there at all.
“I wish for you to be Na’vi forever.” Neytiri whispers. Looking back at her, Hake couldn’t help but agree.
“We could try once I’m back.” Jake whispers.
She leans in, pressing a kiss to his lips. “We made our choice long ago. We can’t risk it.”
“Okay.” He breaths. He kisses back.
Norm clears his throat. Neytiri presses her lips deeper into his before pulling back. She looks at Norm as if he cut a hole into her hammock. “It’s time.” Norm states, pointing at him. Neytiri steps to the side, letting the scientists in.
Jake allows himself to be maneuvered, podded and poked. A heart monitor is pasted to his chest. After what feels like an hour, Jake lays back. He looks to the right, finding Neytiri staring at him with a look he knows too well.
She’s scared.
“See you soon.” He smiles. Neytiri hums. Norm slowly closes the Unit’s door, locking him in. Closing his eyes, Jake forces himself to relax. It’ll be okay. It’s just for a week.
.
.
.
Opening his eyes, his stomach is in knots. It takes a while to feel anything but that. The flutters in his stomach rolling around. Feeling comes back slowly, inching out from his chest towards his finger tips. His hand twitches and he feels the pull of an IV. Voices filter in a few seconds later, along with the rhythmic beeps of monitors. His eyes adjust to the lights shining down on him inside the unit.
Jake wants to flick his tail to rid himself of the coiling anxiety threatening to choke him. Nothing moved behind him. There’s no bump like he’s used to while laying on his back. He’s back in his human body.
“—should be ready to open up. Dim the lights, his eyes will be sensitive.” Norms' voice is louder among the others. He clings onto it like a rope to safety.
Slowly the Unit Link’s door opens upwards. He hisses, moving to cover his eyes. His arms barely move and he’s forced to squint. Norm moves to block the now dimming lights in hsi view. “Norm?” He rasps.
“Welcome to the land of the living, Jake. The transfer went well.” His friend says. The sound of wheels against concrete draws Jake’s attention away. Looking over, a woman’s setting his old wheelchair beside the unit.
“Great.” He grits out as Norm helps him to sit up. Everything feels like it is stapled down into the ground.
“Jake?” Neytiri calls, looking down from the corner of the room. Norm moves out of the way, though not for. Jake appreciates this as he uses the other man to stay upright. Leaning heavily onto him.
At first he looks down, muscle memory taking over. His eyes stare right into the floor. No matter how many times Jake blinks, he can’t comprehend the height distance. So used to being the taller one. Slowly he lifts his head up, meeting his mate's gaze. She’s so much bigger than him. Bigger then he remembers.
She’s never around for his check ups. They only take a day at most, so she stays away. This time is different. This time he sees her. For the first time he can’t help but feel small. “Hey.” He says.
Her tail flicks to the side, then curls around her ankle. “My Jake is well?” She asks, looking over at Norm.
“We’ll check his vitals and functions, but so far he’s alright. Nothing some actual food, movement and sleep won’t fix.” Norm replies. He waves down a male scientist. The two of them help Jake into his wheel chair. He tries and fails to help them, arms not used to moving.
“Haven’t my body been sleeping?” Jake huffs.
“Your body's been sedated. There’s a difference.” Norm says, taking out the IVs in his arm. He takes Jake’s shirt off to get to the monitors stuck to his skin. Immediately he feels less restrained. If Jake had use of his legs he’d be shimming out of his pants.
After he’s untethered from everything, Norm wheels him out of the Link Unit room. Neytiri is quick to follow. “We’ll do the basics you're used to. I’ll run the other tests tomorrow after you’ve settled.”
“Thanks.” Jake comments.
They end up in a separate medical room. Reserved for basic check ups or injuries that need a curtain and privacy. Neytiri forces herself in before she’s even given the go ahead. Not that he complains.
A nurse walks in and he quickly recognizes her. “Vanessa.” He greets.
The woman smiles upon seeing him. “Hello Jake.” She greets back. Vanessa is what he’d call his primary doctor. Even if she’s only gotten nurse training, she’s taken the job of doctor for the humans on base.
She monitors his human body along with helping Norm monitor the avatars. “Hello Neytiri.” She says, smiling up at the woman. Neytiri clicks her tongue and narrows her eyes. She never liked Vanessa and her ‘Sky People medicine.’
Vanessa moves on and joins Norm at his side. The two exchange greetings quickly before starting their tests. Jake allows himself to retreat to the back of his mind. He breathes in deep when Norm tells him to, flexes his fingers when Vanessa prompts him. Once the basics are finished Vanessa leaves for a moment.
“Everything looks relatively good. But I’m concerned about mobility and your heart.” Norm says after a moment.
The words pull Jake forwards and he blinks quickly. “My heart?” He voices.
“What about his heart?” Neytiri asks, stepping closer. “What is it?”
Norm looks between them and sighs. “The constant sedatives through your system are weakening your heart and lungs. You know the saying ‘use it or lose it’? Well, you're losing it.” Norm explains. He points to Jake’s chest, lips thinned. “Your body needs to get active. Your heart needs to pump faster and your lungs need to be exercised.”
Jake takes in the words. It makes sense. This was always going to be a short term fix for his life. This body is basically a corpse kept alive by machines and drugs. “How do we fix this?” He asks after a moment. Tone calm and calculated.
His heart's trying to escape out his chest. He wonders if it’s enough exercise to allow him back into his true self. His avatar. “Like I said, you have to stay in this body for a bit. Use it. No permanent damages have happened that I can tell. We’ll monitor it.”
He finds himself wanting to reach for Neytiri. To graze his tail against hers. He doesn’t, tail gone. It sends a pang to his chest. Neytiri’s ears are flat against her head, eyes stuck on his chest. As if she could see through his skin and bones to the problem within.
Vanessa enters the room with a towel over her shoulder, a bucket of water and a bag clutched in her hands. “I’m back.” She announces, setting the bucket down.
Ah, his worst part of check ups. Getting washed by someone else because he’s too weak to do it on his own.
“I’ll grab a fresh set of clothes.” Norm pipes up.
“Thanks.” Jake nods.
“You think you can hold yourself up so I can pull your pants and underwear?” Vanessa questions.
Jake opens to reply but is cut off by a loud hiss. “I’ll clean my husband.” Neytiri states, moving so she’s between him and the nurse.
“I’m sure Vanessa has it handled, Neytiri—“ Norms cut off by Neytiri snapping her teeth at the man.
“Out! Both of you!” She orders, waving towards the door. “Jake is my mate. I’ll take care of him!”
Embarrassment creeps in and Jake feels his cheeks heating up. He doesn’t dare speak up against her. Vanessa peaks around his mate and mouths “Is this okay?” Jake nods. Nothing changes Neytiri's mind.
“I’ll be outside if you need any help.” She says softly. She and Norm practically flee the room, closing the ‘wicket behind them.
Neytiri huffs, squatting down in front of him. “You don’t need to do this.” Jake says slowly. If she wants out of this, he’ll gladly give it.
She doesn’t need to force herself to care for him. Not when he’s like this. Clicking her tongue, Neytiri looks down at the supplies she was left with. “We’ve had four children.” She comments, side eyeing him. The underlying meaning is clear.They’ve seen all of each other. At least, she’s seen all of his avatar.
“This is different from my other body, Neytiri.” He says. It’s not the same. Even the way it feels to be inside his human body felt abnormal. This felt like the avatar now, the meat suit that was created in a lab.
Her ears flick. She grabs the bag and opens it, pulling out bottles of soup and a wash rag. They're incredibly small compared to her hands. “You are Jake.” Is her only reply.
Neytiri looks out of her depth with the human supply’s. He saves her the embarrassment of slathering him in conditioner. “That one’s body wash.” He gestures to the bottle on the right. She hums moving it next to the bucket. Repositioning herself so she’s kneeling in front of his wheel chair, she goes to take off his pants.
Jake’s a feather in her hands, weightless. She takes off the remainder of his clothes and scoops him up, holding him against her stomach. He feels like a child. “You are so light, my Jake.” She mutters. He can feel her holding back laughter.
“Well I’m less than half your size.” He huffs. He’s been manhandled by her before, but all he needed to do was throw his weight around a little and it was easy to get out of her grasp. If she wants she could snap him like a twig and he’d say it wouldn’t even be her fault.
Neytiri rolls her eyes, wetting the wash cloth. Her touch is harder than he expected as she runs the wash cloth down his body. She drops it a few times, hissing underneath her breath. Once she deems him ready, she opens the body wash and squeezes it out onto the wash cloth. It’s a little more than he’d do, but he doesn’t complain.
She’s thorough and calculated. Jake looks up and catches her eyes. Neytiri looks like she’s planning out the best route around a RDA task force. Her brow-line is curled. It’s the same with his hair. Soon enough she’s rinsing him off and draping the towel across his shoulder, drying him down.
“Thanks, Neytiri.” He says honestly. Neytiri hums, wrapping her arms around him.
A minute later, there’s a knock on the wicket. Norm peaks his head in. “Brought you some clothes.” He says, stepping inside. He rounds Neytiri, looking from his wheelchair over to him. The man snorts, raising an eyebrow.
“Don’t.” Jake warns. He’d point if he had the energy to lift his arm.
Norm turns on his heel, shoulders shaking in quiet laughter. “I’ll leave these here. I’ll be back in a minute to bring you to your room.” Norm announces, setting his things on the wheelchair. Jake sighs as Norm leaves the room once more.
Getting into his clothes is harder than taking them off. Neytiri’s careful, even if she herself looks like she was to rip the sky people's clothes apart. Once Jake’s dressed Neytiri helps him back into his wheelchair.
“I don’t like to see you like this.” She states, eyes roaming his body.
He doesn’t like looking like this either. “I’ll be back to normal soon.” He reassures his wife. Her tail thrashes out, mouth opening to say something. She’s cut off by Norm walking back in.
“Ready?” He asks, looking between them.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” Jake nods. Neytiri makes room for Norm as he grabs the chairs handles and wheels him out of the room. Neytiri lags behind this time as Norm brings him to a part of the lab that doesn’t have a Na’vi sized roof. The sleeping quarters are almost empty besides a few bystanders.
Entering one of the rooms, Norm sets him by a bed. It’s an extra room, usually used for him when he has to go through check ups that go overnight. Those are far between, as he hates staying in his human body for over a day. Now he has to stay in it for a week at least.
“How bad is it, Norm?” Jake asks now that they're alone.
Norm doesn’t need more prompting. “You can’t keep staying in your avatar for long periods of time like this. Months at a time, with only a few hours back every so often. It’s getting dangerous.” He explains, sitting on the edge of the bed. “One day your heart and lungs are going to give out and you’ll drop dead. Or if we do get you back, you won’t be able to go back to your avatar.”
“Then what am I supposed to do!?” Jake yells. There’s a rope around his throat cutting off oxygen. A tremor in his hands. “I am Olo’eyktan, I have children that need me. I can’t be gone for half the day.”
Norm sighs, running his hand down his face. “I don’t know what to tell you Jake. Either you live in two bodies, or one. But you got to pick.” He stands, looking down at him. “I’m not saying you have to make the choice now, but a choice has to be made.”
“Fine.” Jake grits out, huffing. He’s on edge as it is, Norm can excuse his poor behaviour. He’s the only man he can really be cranky with and not get a side eye either.
Norm sets his hand on his shoulder for a second before heading towards the door. “Your room's voice controlled. If you need anything, just call. Vanessa will be down with some food in an hour or so.” He says before leaving the room. The door clicks closed and he’s left alone with nothing but his thoughts. There’s really only one on his mind.
He’ll have to take the risk. He can’t live in this body. He just can’t.