The Promise

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. No copyright infringement is intended. All recognizable characters, places, names, etc. belong to Stephenie Myers.

…

Long dark hair whipped around her in the strong mountain wind. Eyes squinting against the sunlight, she dropped the intricately beaded bracelet she held in her hand. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she bowed her head releasing the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. It's been so long since she had released anything. Wind still rushing around her, tangling her hair as it did so. The sun wasn't warm enough, she had grown accustomed to a different type of heat, one that blossomed over time in her heart, engulfing her entirely. She felt hollow and delicately thin on this mountaintop. Another tear slipped through her closed her eyelids.

The beads were a gift to show his commitment to her. She wore them everyday, held them in her hands examining every thread, every color, what each bead meant. She wore them with pride, knowing full well that he was hers and she was his, Paul Lahote was hers. It had happened so quickly, the whirlwind romance, the promise, the change... She had no idea where he was now, he didn't answer his phone, he wasn't home and his Mother didn't care either way. When Bella had placed the missing persons report, the only ones who cared were Old Quil, Billy and her Dad. They looked for him, her Dad called for a search party, turning over every leaf in the La Push terrain to find her love.

Then Sam went missing too. Leah was devastated. She locked herself in her room; that's when Harry Clearwater found her beads and he joined the search. There were a few more disappearances; Jared Cameron, Jacob Black, Quil Ateara, and then finally, Embry Call. All left without so much as a note or a single shred of evidence, just six young men missing, and six bracelets firmly attached to six deeply wounded young women awaiting their return. There was a daily search for weeks and somewhere along the way Leah had dropped her beads from the mountaintop.

She stood with Bella watching, holding her hand in support of her best friend and sister by choice. Leah held the strands in her unsure hand, sunlight glinting off the strategically placed beads. The band fell through Leah's fingers, both girls watching as the bracelet plummeted to the base of the cliff, the beads wouldn't be found. Bella hugged her friend tight, allowing her to sob into her shoulder.

That night, one Sam Uley returned grasping a beaded promise.

The other girls did the same in hopes their lost loves would also return. One by one, they dropped their beads off the mountain and one by one they returned with the bracelets they had lovingly made for their intended. Bella wasn't sure about this at all. She was skeptical when Sam returned. He was Sam essentially, but something was different. She could see it in his demeanor. When the others returned it was the same, they were themselves, yet not. The other girls were delighted, elated, they were barely hanging on without their men.

Not to say that Bella wasn't distraught, she was, she longed for Paul to the point that she thought she couldn't breath. She just didn't understand why they had to lose themselves on that mountain top to bring their loves back. She questioned it when Billy had asked her why she hadn't visited the mountain with her beads. She questioned it when Jacob Black came to her and asked her when she would go to the mountain, it had been weeks after all.

"Don't you miss him Bells? I know how it hurts, its nearly unbearable."

"Yeah, it is." She questioned him in her head, he seen it in her eyes.

"I was gone too Bells. I returned when Ang returned my promise." he kissed her forehead and got up to leave.

"Don't wait too long or he may not be able to come back." Then he was gone.

She waited a little while longer, questioning the events of the last couple of days.

Leah and Sam had made plans to get married. He was fixing a house out on the edge of the reservation for the two of them. When Charlie Swan had made his mind up to talk to his daughter she was already sitting atop the police cruiser, bagels and coffee in hand. Her bracelet wrapped tightly around her wrist. She asked her Dad to make the trip with her and he obliged.

…~*~...

The trip was quiet and Charlie was grateful because he had no clue what to say to his daughter. He knew where Paul was, had for a month now. Paul knew he would be the last to return, he had told the Chief of Police as much. When he had asked Charlie why Bella hadn't returned the promise yet, Charlie just looked him.

"Yeah, she's your daughter after all Chief." They laughed about it a little.

"She's stubborn, yet she sits there touching that bracelet pouring her soul into it. She doesn't trust the circumstances, she knows there's more. She's not sure if she's ready for what's coming."

"Figures, I don't blame her. I don't trust it either, none of it. Goddamned birthright!" Paul threw a rock , shaking his head, disgust settling over his features.

"I know son, it wasn't much fun when it happened to us either. I made it the Cullen's problem when I phased back. Pissed all over their house, their cars, and their smug son." Charlie smirked.

"You pissed on one of their proverbial children?! Ha! That's great!" Paul laughed, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Yeah, the one with the face, he looks constipated. Must be a tough break, eternity looking like you need a bathroom break."

The pair sat in silence for a long while, mostly thinking about their fate. The bloodlines were definite. The cold ones were to blame, these things were true.

"I'll be back tomorrow Okay son?" Charlie hugged Paul.

...

Paul appreciated Charlie Swan. He was the only one who ever treated him like a person besides Bella, Sam, and Leah. He tried his best to understand the previous generation's complex relationships. When Paul found out that Embry was his brother, he almost lost it. He didn't understand, if it was a soul mate situation, how could his Dad be with both their mother's, then leave? It pissed him off. He ran for days. Now he just waited.

He waited for his life to begin again. He knew Bella would make the trip up the mountain eventually. She was just as stubborn as he was. She would question just as much as he had. He would wait forever for her.

...

When Charlie Put the cruiser in Park, Bella looked at her Dad, hoping to find reassurance. Instead she found him laughing at himself.

"What's so funny Dad?"

"Nothing, just took you long enough. You're too smart for your own good. Go on, get on with it already." He shooed her out of his car.

She was a little perplexed, like he had known something all along. The Elders did. They knew it would happen. She remembered the looks as she walked through the reservation with her beautiful beads on her left wrist. She remembered when her Dad first seen the bracelet and how his eyes had turned into saucers. Her Mother's response was almost comical as she spewed her coffee across her computer screen during their brief Skype session. When Paul's Mom heard about it she stormed into Newton's and demanded to see the item at once. She said nothing, just looked ghostly and left. It all fit, the parents and the Elders knew. That's why Mrs. Lahote wasn't worried, she knew Paul would come back. Although, she wasn't entirely worried about Paul in a normal circumstance.

Bella stood at the edge of the cliff, remembering it all. The first smile, the first words, the first kiss, the first... She smiled, and let the memories engulf her. She let herself be real for the first time in weeks. She felt it all simultaneously and let it permeate her senses. The wind blew as she exhaled. It picked up, blowing her hair in all directions. She felt the tiny glass pieces and strands of thread flow free through her lax fingers. It was the last thing to let go of. As she returned the promise to the earth, the wind roared around her, it was around her, and inside of her. She felt the pain fall from her, raising her eyelids after what felt like a lifetime. Out of the corner of her eye, Bella Swan thought she seen a wolf. If it was real that meant it was incomprehensibly fast, because in a literal blink of an eye, it was gone. She turned around on the spot where she stood. Nothing. There was nothing at all. Her Dad wasn't here either, his cruiser was gone. When had he left, how could she not have known?

"Bella?" She stopped moving at the sound of his voice. She'd know his voice anywhere. The joy that she felt was indescribable. Her heart burst open at the same time she turned to see his beautiful face. It was Paul, a little wiser albeit, but definitely Paul. A smile broke onto her face and she ran to him. Jumping into his arms.

"I knew you'd come baby."

And he kissed her.