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Neytiri is surprised -- that he followed. That he lived.

TIGHT ON HUMAN JAKE, in the shack. Thinking as he looks at

the pictures of Grace with the laughing kids at the school.

IN THE COMMONS -- AVATAR NORM formally greets MO'AT. The

Matriarch looks on as GRACE kneels to hug children she knows.

Grace's eyes sparkle as she chats with them in Na'vi.

JAKE (V.O.)

I sweet-talked Mo'at into giving Norm and

Grace a hall pass. Now Grace even makes

me coffee before link every morning.

Grace looks up to see Neytiri approaching. It is an awkward

moment between them. Grace makes the formal gesture of

greeting.

GRACE:

(Na'vi, subtitled)

I See you, Neytiri Mo'at'ite.

NEYTIRI:

I See you, Doctor Grace Augustine.

ANOTHER DAY -- NEYTIRI kneels on a game trail, pointing out

the tracks in the mud to Jake. She touches the edges of the

plants around her, and sniffs the air.

64.

JAKE (V.O.)

I'm learning to read the trails, the

tracks at the water-hole, the tiniest

scents and sounds.

JAKE AND NEYTIRI watch through a screen of leaves as --

A HERD of huge, armored STURMBEEST walks through the shallows

of a lake. In the middle of the herd, the babies are

sheltered from predators among their parents' legs.

One of the BULLS trumpets, and a flock of TETRAPTERONS takes

flight, an explosion of purple wings.

Jake stares at the strange and wild alien tableau.

ANOTHER PLACE -- NEYTIRI STANDS utterly still, except for her

ears, which move with a life of their own. Her eyes are

closed. She speaks very softly to Jake --

NEYTIRI:

When you hear nothing, you will hear

everything. When you see nothing, you

will See everything.

JAKE (V.O.)

Sometimes I have no idea what she's

talking about.

Jake and Neytiri creep quietly, stalking a large male

HEXAPEDE -- a six legged deer-like creature.

Jake expertly nocks an arrow and draws his bow as Neytiri

watches. He takes a bead on the hexapede -- tracks it for a

beat with the drawn bow, then RELAXES his arm. Zen archery.

JAKE (V.O.)

It's been a month and I'm still not

allowed to make a kill. She says the

forest hasn't given permission.

OMIITED:

NEYTIRI and JAKE crawl through the undergrowth. She points

and he parts some leaves to see --

A MOTHER VIPERWOLF bringing meat to her cubs, which frisk

around her legs. She licks their faces.

JAKE (V.O.)

There's a lot of crap like that. She's

always going on about the flow of energy--

the spirits of the animals and what not --

65.

VIDEO-LOG IMAGE -- HUMAN JAKE talks into the lens. He's

changing -- un-shaven, cheeks hollow. Pale.

JAKE:

(SMIRKING)

I just hope this treehugger sh*t isn't on

the final.

Visible behind him, Grace is hunched over her samples.

GRACE:

(without looking up)

This isn't just about eye-hand

coordination out there. You need to

listen to what she says. Try to see the

forest through their eyes.

JAKE:

Excuse me -- this is my video-log here,

okay?

NEYTIRI AND JAKE move through the NIGHT FOREST, surrounded by

galaxies of shimmering bioluminescence. They move

gracefully, soundlessly -- two forest spirits.

CU JAKE -- the pupils of his cat eyes dilated. The night

forest floods his brain with its million bio-sources.

NIGHT SHOT, from overhead -- Jake and Neytiri bow-fishing

from a dugout canoe over huge glowing ANEMONES at the bottom

of a pool.

A large fish swims silhouetted against the pastel glow. ZAP!

Jake drills it. He holds up the fish, triumphantly.

ANOTHER DAY -- Neytiri stands close behind Jake, adjusting

his position as he draws his bow. Only now her hands are

GENTLE as they move on his arms, his shoulders.

Aware of her touch, Jake's focus is broken. Their eyes meet,

and she pulls away quickly.

NIGHT -- they enter a CLEARING filled with chest-high ferns.

Neytiri signals him to move slowly. They approach a creature

on one of the ferns. An ugly, stick-like LIZARD-THING

perched on a frond. As he approaches --

SNAP! A long spine whips in a circle, unfurling a

bioluminescent membrane -- a disk a meter across, opening

like a Chinese fan. It FLIES OFF, a living Frisbee.

THE FAN LIZARD FLOATS across the clearing.

66.

Neytiri plunges among the ferns with a SHARP CRY. An

EXPLOSION OF COLOR as dozens of FAN LIZARDS take flight.

Grinning widely, she hops around like a little girl, until

they are all flying. And for the first time, she is

unguarded and joyful, totally herself with him.

INSIDE THE LINK -- Jake's eyes open in the darkness. He

doesn't know where he is. He weakly pushes open the lid,

blinking at the light.

JAKE (V.O.)

Everything is backwards now. Like out

there is the true world, and in here is

the dream.

TIGHT ON AVATAR JAKE silently drawing his bow, his eyes

focused in intense concentration. A beat -- the arrow flies.

JAKE PULLS the arrow from the twitching body of a hexapede.

He dispatches it with his knife.

He speaks haltingly, but with feeling, in Na'vi.

JAKE:

(NA'VI)

I See you Brother, and thank you. Your

spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays

behind to become part of the People.

NEYTIRI watches with approval.

NEYTIRI:

A clean kill. You are ready.

CUT TO:

INT. SHACK - NIGHT

Lying in the link, Jake looks exhausted, pale, thin. Norm

helps Grace get him to his chair.

GRACE:

You're still losing weight. Here --

She hands him a microwaved burrito. He looks at the now alien

food. Bites into it without enthusiasm.

JAKE:

I made a kill today. We ate it. I know

where that meal came from.

67.

GRACE:

Other body. You need to take care of

this body.

JAKE:

Yeah yeah.

GRACE:

Jake, I'm serious -- you look like crap.

You're burning too hard.

Jake takes the cigarette out of her mouth and stubs it out.

JAKE:

Get rid of this sh*t, then you can

lecture me.

GRACE:

I'm telling you, as your boss and someone

who might even consider being a friend

someday, to take some down time.

JAKE:

Not now. Tomorrow we leave for Iknimaya.

GRACE walks past Jake, starts making herself coffee.

GRACE:

Yeah -- you're gonna go ride a banshee.

Or die trying.

JAKE:

That's right, Grace. This is what I've

been working for.

GRACE:

And this is your check up from the neck

up, Marine. You're getting in way too

deep.

(she turns away)

Trust me, I learned the hard way.

Jake scans the pictures tacked up around Grace's workstation.

JAKE:

What did happen at the school?

GRACE looks up from making coffee. Her eyes track across the

pictures of the laughing children. Finally --

68.

GRACE:

Neytiri's sister -- Sylwanin -- stopped

coming to school. She was angry about

the clear-cutting.

GRACE sips her coffee, grimaces at the taste.

GRACE:

One day, she and a couple of other young

hunters came running in, all painted up --

they'd set a bulldozer on fire -- I guess

they thought I could protect them.

GRACE'S voice stays oddly CALM as he tells this terrible

story, while getting MILK out of the refrigerator.

GRACE:

The troopers pursued them to the

schoolhouse.

MACRO as she pours the milk -- her hand is SHAKING.

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