Chapter Text
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Cami's POV
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The beauty and dangers of Pandora seem to be no more than a distant dream to us, a tale people will tell their children right before bedtime.
A tale parents tell their children for them to understand what earth could still be like if humans hadn't poisoned it, if they had appreciated what they had before it was almost completely gone.
Millions of species, lands and natural resources perished because of our greed and hunger for more control, more power, and more money. Because of that, humans looked for another planet they could rob, sucking out its energy and life like parasites.
Soon, they did.
Pandora quickly became target number one as it is full of life and recourses that wealthy humans needed to sell for unfair prices, striving to bathe in foreign riches. Technological advances eventually allowed humans to travel to Pandora.
Almost like ancient Vikings, they invaded to plunder and destroy.
Soon, scientists from all over the world gathered and traveled to the dangerous planet to see the miracles the Na'vi world provided for themselves. Not even the lives lost or the predators lurking in the shadows were enough to scare them away. Even the good-willed scientists paid with their lives just for one sample of a plant, animal tissue, or anything they could get their hands on. Soon, seeds of fruit and plants were being taken to earth, trying to fight the global hunger many were affected by.
Thanks to the scientist's sacrifices many lives on earth were saved from starvation. A small price to pay, compared to the troubles humans faced every day. A balance is restored. Where lives were lost, new were able to survive. Sadly, not everybody's goal was to save our planet. Most, merely wanted money they could make with Pandorian goods.
You know what they say, money makes the world go around.
Drunk with the power Pandora had given them, humans wanted more. Unfortunately for them, there was one thing in their way, the natives of Pandora, the Na'vi.
People call them ruthless,
merciless, wild savages that would not hesitate to put an arrow between your eyes for as much as accidentally tearing a leaf off a tree. The blue human-like creatures fiercely protect the forest and all creatures that walk their planet. All flora and fauna are sacred to them. Not long after the first human set foot on the blue planet, they were overpowered by its natives. The humans fought back.
To beat your enemy, you have to become your enemy, they probably thought as the Avatar programme was called to life.
Avatars are humano...
"Are you seriously reading that book again?" An annoyed voice asked from the doorway.
Tearing my eyes off the book spread on my lap that I've read at least a hundred times, I look up to my only friend, Sara and before you ask, yes, she is a pain in the ass. My old bed squeaks as I shift and lay down on my bed.
Flipping her off, I tear my gaze away from her glare. Fidgeting with the corners of the worn pages of Dr Augustine's book "Humans on Pandora", I try not to think about the purpose of her visit and lift the book above my face, trying to ignore her.
Silently, Sara walks over to me and wordlessly lays down beside me.
We lay there in silence for quite a while.
Silence that I usually prefer over forced small talk.
Unfortunately for me, after a few minutes, Sara breaks the silence.
"Are you okay?" She asks quietly. I purposefully ignore her staring holes into the side of my head, not even looking away from my book. The book my father's twin gifted me before I was even able to read.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I ask, nonchalantly.
"You know what day it is, right?" She asks, unsuccessfully hiding her wince knowing how much I loathe my birthday.
"Listen, Spellman,...I ain't talking about this shit again. He left me here with mom, mom died, I was sent to the orphanage and he betrayed the human race to become a blue, 10 ft tall dude to rail some native chick. Good riddance to him. I may still have a father out there but by law, I am a fucking orphan."
Well, that's what I wanted to say. Instead, I emotionlessly answered with one simple phrase.
"I'm fine."
Sara's gaze darkened, already used to my automatic replies.
"Like fuck you are, Sully. Every year on this day, you sulk about the guy that was supposed to be your dad. Then you go out and do stupid shit. It's okay not to be okay, you know?"
"Whatever. And don't call me Sully. I will get my name changed as soon as I'm out of this hell hole." I reply, this time not bothering to hide my emotions. The blood boils in my veins at this name.
Anytime I hear the name Sully, I am reminded of the father that was supposed to be here. Of how I once longed my life to be. Me living with dad instead of an orphanage who's building is starting to fall apart.
Anytime I hear the last name I was born with, I am reminded of my parent's wedding when I was little. Even though I barely remember it now, I still faintly remember my mom saying the words "I do." with the biggest smile on her face. I also remember the day she filed for divorce and abandoned my father's name. I remember how they fought for shared custody.
One week at dad's, one week at mums.
Even if life was a bit hectic, being a Sully was okay. It got complicated when my uncle Tom was mugged and murdered for the few dollar bills in his pockets and dad took his place in the Avatar program. Things got even more out of hand when mom got sick.
Colon cancer, stage 4.
The doctors gave her 7 months to live.
She died 4 months after the diagnosis, leaving me without any remaining family. She died shortly before my 4th birthday.
Things escalated after my father's shenanigans on Pandora. The news spread like a wildfire as soon as earth received messages and video material from Pandora. Soon, the name Sully would haunt me anytime I tried to find a job, a friend or even a foster family. Not that I was interested in that in the first place.
It has been 12 years since Jake Sully left earth behind.
12 years since he left me behind.
12 years since he made his 3 year old daughter an orphan.
Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I look up into the softened gaze of my friend like she knew exactly what I was thinking.
"Only 3 more years..." She quietly says more to herself than me, her words overflowing with pity. I hated whenever she did this. The look she gives me is like I would break any moment. I simply hated it. Still, I knew she cared for me.
"Yeah..." I breathed, my gaze falling onto my book once more. "How's your brother, by the way? Any word from him?"
"You know how Norm is, Pandora this, Pandora that. His messages are all about Pandora." She replies with a smile.
"What a fucking nerd." I say and send her a small smirk making her chuckle.
"He figured out how to communicate via video call. He said I should call him today." Sara states and somehow it makes my blood run cold. If there is a possibility to...no...I could actually see him again. Not that I wanted, but at least now, it was my active choice if I did talk to him or not. I could at least flip him off if I wanted to.
"Hmm..." I hum and for a few minutes, I get lost in my thoughts.
If they could call from Pandora...would he want to talk to me? Would he even want to see me? Would he even...remember? Would I recognize his voice? His face? I can barely remember the voices of my parents. Hell, at this point, I don't remember what it is like to have parents at all.
"Camille?" Sara asks, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I blink a few times and focus my gaze on her.
"Yeah, yeah. That's good, let's call him." I reply. My friend since diapers smiles and takes her holo-tablet out of her bag.
"Fingers crossed girl, last time we tried
to video-chat, I could not hear a word he said and the screen was black." Sara states with a quiet giggle and presses the call button to her brother.
After a few seconds, the Avatar-face of Norm appears on the screen. His grin spreads from ear to ear. Aside from a few aging lines that now adored this face and the unnatural blue skin, he doesn't seem to have changed a lot since I last saw him.
"Sara!!! Oh Eywa, I can't believe I'm seeing you now! Look at you! I can't believe you're already 19 years old...my baby sister is all grown up!" Norm says, tears brimming his eyes. Sara is also close to tears seeing her brother for the first time in years. Sure they wrote often, but it's not the same as seeing one's face.
I listen to the siblings sort of reunite and the more they talk, the more out of place I feel. Like I'm intruding on a really intimate family moment. Hoping Sara won't notice, I quietly make my way towards the door praying to escape unnoticed. Unfortunately, I don't consider the angle of Sara's camera and walk into the picture.
"Hey, Sara, who's this?" Norm says and I freeze, my back turned to the camera. My eyes widen as I send a look towards Sara who's already watching me. I slightly shake my head. The type of expression on my face when your mother is trying to force you to talk to grandma on the phone.
"Come here!" She hisses quietly and points her finger to the spot next to her on my bed. I shake my head once again putting my hands together, pleading with her to let me go.
"Is that...Camille?" Norm almost whispers. Of course, he would recognize me. Silently I curse the light blonde curls that I inherited from my late mother. They made me very recognizable.
Putting on an awkward smile, I turn around and face the camera, there's no point hiding now. Norm and my uncle were close so we spent a lot of time together when I was a toddler. They often took Sara and me to the cinema, small cafes and hologram shows of parks or zoos.
As soon as Norm sees me, a gasp escapes his lips. "Oh, my god..."
"Hi, Normie." I say his old nickname with a forced smile that probably looked more like a grimace.
"You...you look exactly like your mother. How much you've grown." Norm says and puts a hand through his hair, his eyes wide.
"And you look...blue." I say with a smirk making him chuckle tearfully. I look away from him for a moment. Emotional talk and reunions were never my forte.
"How's your mom?" He asks with a smile, wiping the teasing smirk off my face, making me feel like I just got slapped. Sara's head whips in my direction with wide eyes and I can see the color draining off her face. Her mouth falls open to form a response and closes again before the words can escape her lips.
"Dead." I deadpan making Norm's eyes go wide at my blunt response.
"Cat is dead? How...when..? Does your dad know?" He asks and my face turns sour.
"I'm sorry, Norm. I gotta go see ya, whenever." I say, my face hard as stone and begin to make my leave.
"Camille, wait!" Norm shouts and I turn around with a sigh.
"Yes?"
"I will be seeing your dad today...Should I arrange a meeting so you can talk to him or forward a message? You haven't seen each other in ages." Norm says with an encouraging smile as if he had the best idea in the entire world.
Putting on my most realistic fake smile, that makes his eyes light up, I scoot closer to the camera and Sara recognizes my devilish, cat-like grin.
"Cam." She warns but I ignore her.
"Actually, there is something you could tell him for me." I say with angry tears making their way to the surface in the corner of my eyes.
"Okay?" Norm asks confused by my expression.
"You go and tell him..." I sigh dramatically as to fight tears.
"Cam..." Sara warns again but I put my hand over her mouth and turn my attention back to her brother.
"Yes?" Norm asks.
"You go and tell him..."
"Yeah?"
"...that he can go fuck himself." I hiss with as much hatred as I could muster. Norm's face pales while his mouth hangs wide open in shock while I just smirk.
"Camille, please, maybe if you...if you..." Norm stutters over his words.
"Goodbye, Norm." I say without a hint of emotion and stand to grab the bag that's hanging on a hook by the door and leave my room, slamming the door hard enough to make the walls shudder and paint chip off the door.
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Sara's POV
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I flinch as Cam slams the door. While my brother looks like he's about to faint my gaze falls to my lap with a tired sigh. After a few minutes of silence, Norm speaks up.
"What the hell happened, Sara?" I look up at the screen and sigh once again. "Why didn't you tell me Cat is dead? How...when...what?"
"A lot of shit happened since you left, Norm."
"Thank you for the obvious, smartass. Tell me what happened." He says, his last sentence a little sharper leaving me no room to argue.
"Auntie Cat died 4 months after you left for Pandora."
"But, how..." My brother starts to stumble over his words again.
"Cancer. Stage four colon cancer." I reply, my gaze falling onto my lap once again.
"Fucking hell..." Norm says breathlessly as if he just ran a marathon.
"Yeah..." I nod and uncomfortable silence surrounds us for a minute.
"Wait, who took guardianship of Camilla?" Norm asks and I choke on some air.
"I think that's Cami's story to tell, Norm. It's been real a real shit show for her since you left."
"That bad, huh?"
"You have no idea, big bro. Just do me a favor, okay? Don't tell Sully anything about this. It's best if they'd stay out of touch. It took her a long, long, long fucking time to get to terms with him abandoning her. He has a new life and so has she. Let it be that way." I say, knowing what type of emotions the meeting with Norm must have awakened in her. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I had hoped she might like to see a familiar face. She and Norm were close when we were small.
"Sara... I have to tell him... she's his kid. He should have a chance to be her dad again. He has the right to know."
"The right..." I scoff. "...because he was being such a fucking splendid parent to her, right? He just left the damn planet and became a different species." I snap at my brother, making him release a frustrated sigh.
"Please, just stay out of it Norm." I almost beg and even though reluctantly, he agrees.
"Fine."
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Cami's POV
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Fuck Jake. Fuck Norm. Fuck Pandora. Fuck everything and everyone.
This was a mistake. No matter how much I missed Norm, I should have just kept my damn mouth shut and walked away. I should've just gone to the small liquor store around the corner that sells booze to practically anyone, and drank the night away like last year.
Happy fucking birthday to me.
I have been walking for at least two hours now and slowly my fingers are getting numb. It's getting dark out and there is no way I will make it back before the sun completely sets.
With a frustrated sigh, I turn on my heels and start making my way back to the orphanage.
After about an hour it's completely dark and I just know I will get my ass whipped for being out this long.
As I walk further, I feel a shudder making its way down my spine. I feel like I'm being watched. Fear starts spreading in my chest as I pick up speed and my steps turn into a slight jog.
As soon hear footsteps matching my tempo I turn around and spot two men behind me, watching me like hawks. Turning back around I break out into a sprint and to my utter horror, the two men do too.
I can hear my frantic heartbeat in my ears as I pump my legs as fast as they can go. Whipping my head around, I see the two figures coming closer with each step. With a terrified whimper and tears brimming my eyes, I push harder, running faster than I thought I could run until I run into something solid and fall down to my butt with a loud yelp.
A man stands over me with a million-dollar smile that makes my heart stop. Too fast for me to register, two pairs of strong arms haul me up to my feet and I feel a painful sting on my neck.
Black spots cloud my vision and just before I lose consciousness, I swear I can hear the man standing before me say something that makes me pass out.
"Welcome to the Avatar program, Miss Sully."
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A/N- How do you like it so far?
And yes, should you continue reading there will be LOTS of cliffhangers so be prepared.
XOXO