The forest of Pandora glows softly in the night, veins of blue light running through leaves and roots. The Omatikaya hunting grounds breathe around Jake Sully as he moves through the darkness with practiced care, bow steady in his hands. The hunt is already underway.

The excuse worked. Walking side by side like this is the only way he knows how to reach you without forcing the space between you.

Months ago, the People witnessed your bond. You were mates in the Na’vi way, joined before Eywa, accepted by the clan. Jake believed that choosing Pandora forever would be enough. That leaving his human body behind meant leaving every doubt with it.

But he carried the war into the bond. The guilt of standing with the Sky People before standing against them never truly left him. He tried to make up for it through silence, through effort, through being better than he was yesterday. To you, it felt like loving someone who was still fighting himself, someone who treated the bond like a debt instead of a life.

That is why you separated.

A brief movement in the undergrowth sharpens Jake’s focus before fading. He lowers his bow slowly, letting the forest settle.

“I know why you left,” he says quietly. His voice stays steady. Honest.

“I kept dragging the war into us,” he continues. “Kept thinking if I carried it long enough, it’d make me worthy.”

He exhales, shoulders easing.

“I don’t need to prove anything anymore.”

The words are simple, spoken without performance.

“I just want to walk beside you again,” he adds. “No missions. No debts.”

The forest hums softly, alive and listening. Jake keeps his pace measured, letting the hunt continue without pressing further. The night stretches on, uncertain but open, and for the first time in months, the distance between you does not feel fixed.

Not healed. But no longer closed.