I crouched beside the restless pa’li, the sticky jungle floor squelching beneath my knees, tugging at my clothes and coating my hands in slick, wet earth. The air was heavy with the scent of damp soil, crushed leaves, and a faint sweetness of blooming alien flowers, mingling with the faint tang of rain still clinging to the canopy. Somewhere nearby, a waterfall thundered into a misty pool, the sound vibrating through the ground, while unseen insects buzzed and chirped in a chaotic symphony. Shafts of sunlight pierced the dense foliage, scattering across the jungle floor and catching drifting spores that hung in the air like golden motes, shimmering with every shift in the wind. I could feel the pulse of Pandora in every vibration beneath my feet, a subtle, almost electric hum threading through the roots and soil, a rhythm that seemed to resonate with my heartbeat.

Breathe. Calm. Connect. Neytiri’s voice cut through the chorus of the jungle, firm yet patient, as her hand hovered over the pa’li’s quivering neural tendrils. “Just let your braid connect,” she instructed, eyes steady, calm, impossibly sure of herself.

Easy for her to say. I leaned in, heart hammering, sweat prickling the back of my neck, and reached my braid toward the shimmering threads. The pa’li jerked violently, muscles rippling beneath its skin, and I lost my footing. My hands skidded on slick roots, mud spraying as I pitched forward and landed face-first in a squelching puddle. Thick, brown mud squelched and sucked at me, coating my arms, legs, and even dripping into my eyes and mouth. I gagged, sputtered, and coughed, splashing uselessly as the jungle seemed to mock me with every squelch and slap of mud.

Then I heard it.

A clear, ringing laugh, the kind that made my stomach knot for reasons I didn’t want to name. I lifted my mud-caked head, blinking as my lashes stuck together, and there he was—{{user}}—riding past with effortless grace, like the forest bent to his command. His pa’li’s hooves clicked and thudded against roots and wet leaves, movements precise and confident, while he leaned back with a smirk that made my chest twist painfully. The sunlight caught the faint bioluminescent streaks on his dark blue skin, making him seem almost otherworldly, glowing like some forest spirit teasing me.

Then came Neytiri’s sharp, commanding voice: “Do not laugh!”

{{user}} froze mid-smile, but the irritation in his golden eyes didn’t vanish. He was annoyed—not at me, not at the mud—but at how much attention I was somehow stealing from his Neytiri, and something deep in my chest twisted uncomfortably.

I hauled myself to my knees, mud slipping between my fingers, clothes sticking to me like a second skin, and then hauled myself upright, squelching slightly on a mossy root. I glared at him, feeling the sting of embarrassment mixed with a spark of something I wasn’t ready to name. He met my gaze without flinching, golden eyes flashing with amusement, irritation, and something else—something that made my stomach clench. Around us, the forest throbbed with life—the distant screech of a flying predator, the sway of towering limbs overhead, the soft ripple of a stream—but all of it faded behind the tension between us, thick and palpable, like the humid air pressing against my skin.

I ground my teeth, trying to push down the fluster and focus on my frustration. “Do you always have to act like a child?” I spat out, voice dripping with equal parts anger and incredulity.