Notice: I don't own Avatar, James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox does.
This is my first Fanfic ever and my first actual story since 5th grade so it won't be perfect.
I plan to detail Grace's journey from the end of this story all the way up till when she meets Jake. Please review.
Enough Chatter. Read on
Grace Augustine was born on May 17, 2099 in Montana U.S.A. to a single mother who lived in one of the rare forests dotting Montana. It might be coincidence or perhaps fate that a moon, orbiting a large gas giant in the Alpha Centauri system was discovered to possibly support life that day only 4.4 Light years away from us. It was named Pandora.
Grace was very curious from the time she could walk till the time she decided she wanted to go into Biology. When she was young she would always wonder through the forests around her home looking at the plants, bugs, trees, and other creatures till nighttime or she heard her mother calling for her to come inside.
Her mother supported Grace's curiosity of Earths wildlife saying, "Sooner or later, it will no longer be here for people to see and explore", and that she should learn all she can so one day, she can try and save it.
As Grace went into high school she took as many biology classes as her roster allowed. Many of her fellow students made fun of her saying she was studying a "dying science". Grace wouldn't let that stop her though, she pushed herself to be the best in her biology classes winning many awards, and getting scholarships to many prestigious schools all wanting her to come and take part in their biology studies.
As she progressed though College she began to show excellent ability to learn quickly, think on her feet, and keep an open mind on what she was studying. Many of he professors believed she would become an excellent biologist someday. She wouldn't let what they said go to he head though, she still studied hard, performing research into the wee hours of the morning on plants and animals trying to get an edge on her fellow students.
Although she took biology seriously, many of her fellow pupils didn't. They saw the classes they took only as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. They didn't care about the grass in their yard. They didn't care about the pets they had, they only saw them as objects that made them happy, not living beings that had a spirit or soul. This hurt Grace more than anything, she knew from when she was young and saw how creatures and plants interacted with each other that they were much more than that.
What hurt her more than her friends attitude, was how the world she loved in was slowly being destroyed by people and their machines. When she spoke of this to her professors they looked at her as if she was crazy. "How are we destroying our world, were building it to better serve us." She would ask, "well what about the plants and animals that were there first." "What about them, we are bigger than they are, why should we halt progress for them" was the typical response she heard.
She knew then that humanity's presence on Earth was doomed. She cried herself to sleep many nights because of all the destruction going on around her that she couldn't stop.
She often attended community clean-ups, and would plant trees, flowers, and shrubs wherever she saw a bare spot. In her mind she knew she was helping, but the next day she would see hundreds of acres of lush green forest destroyed and dull gray concrete put in its place. "To better serve us" she would play in her head when she saw images of this. It would make her sick every time she thought of the life lost all for the sake of mankind's greed and selfishness.
She was in her 5th year of college and had gotten nearly every award that a biology student could get, she got many good remarks from her professors and professors from other schools as one of the best young biologists in the United States. Grace was proud of her accomplishments because of not only what she had learned along the way but of the name she was building for herself. She thought that someday she could use that to turn things around for the creatures of Earth and put a halt on human expansion. In the back of her mind though she had doubts about her ability to be able to do enough good to ever save the earth. She feared that if she could save 100 acres of forest, 1000 acres would be plowed under somewhere else.
The more she learned, the sadder she became. Many of the earths beautiful creatures and ecosystems that she studied were just small samples. Places such as the Amazon, Yukon, Russian Tundra, African Savannah, Australian Outback that no longer existed in their true form, but in small rooms under the college. In there place were built either suburbs, cities, or massive vertical farming complexes that spanned as far as the eye could see. She would often go down to those rooms and relax, smell the growing plants, feel the soil in her hands, and gaze at the lush green plants of the different ecosystems.
The Resources Development Administration had just authorized the clearing of the last 100 acres of Yellowstone National Park for a "country" home for the new governor of Wyoming. Grace begged that at least one tree small patch of trees be kept untouched and a small plaque be place with them to remind all those who passed of virgin forest and land that once thrived there but the RDA and the governor laughed her out of the room saying she was, "stupid" and "out of her mind" because no one cared about those things anymore.
After what happened to Yellowstone, things weren't looking good for Grace by her 24th year, all that she loved and worked her life for was disappearing, she had taken up smoking to try and lighten her pain that was constantly hanging over her. She had finished her classes at the college as one of the highest marking biologists in 20 years. She should have been proud of herself and happy, but she only felt sorrow because she had no place to practice what she loved until one rainy evening someone knocked at her apartment door.
"Who is it?" she called as she climbed off the couch. "I'm with the Resources Development Administration and we have a proposition for you." She rolled her eyes knowing that the RDA couldn't have anything she wanted. She opened the door and let the young man inside so the rain wouldn't be running in her apartment. She asked right away folding her arms over her chest, "What is it you want me to do?" "Right to the point, well okay then. The RDA is going to send a ship to a moon in the Alpha Centuri system that appears to be full of wildlife and we know that with life come resources. With Earths resources almost depleted we are going to have to find them somewhere else and this moon is as good as any to start looking." Grace just about beat the man out of her apartment. How could they be so greedy, they already screwed up her home now they want to go terrorize poor helpless creatures on another world just to get whats beneath their feet. But in the back of her mind a little voice told her that this might be whats right. She asked, "What would I be doing?"
The man raised an eyebrow, "You would be the lead biologist, studying the plants and any animals that happen to be there." She replied, "To what end?" "We need to be able to identify what plants and animals pose a threat to our people when we get there and how we can best ward off predators in whatever form they might be in," the man said calmly. Grace was getting frustrated at what this man was asking and was beginning to doubt the voice in the back of her mind, "Why would I help you and your company, if anything I would want the predators to eat you and all your friends." He smiled, "this world is the last known untouched expanse of such wildlife that it would be shame for someone such as you to turn down."
His words rang true and she knew he had him. It was the chance of a lifetime. She could go and explore exotic plants and animals that no human had ever seen before and not be bound the the small rooms under the universities. She wouldn't be bothered by her friends or professors. It would be just her and this world, and whatever little chores this company asked of her.
She kept running the mans words through her head, it was almost too good to be true. "Why me?" she asked after a few moments. He said, "You're the best in your field, you have an open mind when it comes to biology and that's what we need where were going." "Where are we going?" Grace asked. The man smiled again, "The moon is called Pandora."
"Okay, I'll go, but under one condition" "What would that be?" he asked. "The company won't do unnecessary damage to the wildlife and every expansion of whatever station you put there must first be approved by me as lead biologist." "We will see." the man said as he started for the door. "Meet me at the central RDA office and we will get the plans laid out for you to be on the mission." He said as he crossed the threshold and looked up at the now clear night sky. Just as he was about to close the door Grace called, "But how am I supposed to find you?" "Just tell the secretary my name." he said without looking down from the stars. Grace laughed, "Well whats your name?" The man finally looked back at her and smiled yet again, "Robert, Robert Selfridge." And with that he was gone.
