PRODIGAL DAUGHTER
SUMMARY – Bella Swan was twelve years old when he came for her. And for the last five years, she has been his prisoner. Now, she's escaped and is coming home to her father. Will she be able to heal with her new family, or will the horrors of her past follow her home?
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER – Stephanie Meyer is the sole owner of all Twilight Saga characters. No copyright infringement is intended through my use of her works.
A/N: For the purpose of this story, some important character details have been changed. All family relations, pertinent histories, etc. will be revealed as they come about, but variables such as age and paternity of several main characters may not be consistent with the cannon material.
CHAPTER 1 – THE CALL
It was just an average Saturday afternoon in La Push when he got the call.
Charlie Swan was enjoying a relaxing family barbeque with his wife, Sue, and his step-children, Seth and Leah Clearwater, along with several close family friends.
It had taken him years to cope with Renee's death. He and his ex-wife had grown apart over the years, but he had always loved her, and her tragic death had crippled him. Losing his daughter, the same day had nearly been too much for him. He didn't want to believe that she was gone, but the police had never found a body, and the trail for their attacker had quickly gone cold.
Five years ago he had been so sure that he would find his Bella. He couldn't imagine his life without her, and the thought that he might never see her again nearly destroyed him. Harry and Sue Clearwater had been his rock. They helped him survive his pain and his loss, but he was still so empty inside without his little girl.
Then two years later, Harry passed on. A heart attack, the doctors had told them. It was quick, natural, relatively painless all things considered. But it had hit Sue just as hard as Renee's death hit Charlie. And where he had lost his daughter, she was left trying to comfort her children as they grieved their father. So, Charlie helped her the same way she had helped him.
They found solace in each other, and Seth and Leah looked to Charlie as their father, just as Charlie filled the hole in his heart from losing Bella as he raised his step-children. None of them ever forgot the ones they had lost, but they healed, slowly, together.
And now, their home was once again filled with joyous laughter. Charlie and Sue were gathered in the kitchen, picking at the burgers in front of them as they talked and laughed with their friends, Joy, Billy and Tiffany.
Joy Ataera, the widow of Quil Ataera the fourth, had known them for years and in the face of her husband's death, had leaned on all of them to heal. Billy Black had known them both since they were all children, and he had known his own suffering in the loss of his wife, Sarah, so he supported them from day one. Tiffany Call was a single mother and a longtime friend of Sue's.
It had still come as quite a surprise when Billy and Tiffany sparked their own romance nearly two years ago. They weren't married yet, but Charlie knew his friend had already bought her a ring and would be asking any day now. Charlie and Sue were both so happy that their friends had found their own second chance at love.
Outside, their children, Seth, Leah, Jacob, Embry, and Quil, along with Leah's boyfriend, Sam Uley, were gathered around a small campfire, enjoying the same camaraderie and friendship their parents had found. It was strange to think of it for them, but they were like one huge dysfunctional family.
But even after five years, they all still missed the one missing member of their crazy little group, Bella Swan. She and Jacob had been thick as thieves when they were little, practically brother and sister, and both Embry and Quil had considered her a dear friend, even if her mother kept her away from La Push as much as she could, dragging her down to Phoenix when they were all still in diapers. Seth, Leah, and Sam never really knew her before her disappearance, but they'd heard stories from everyone on the Res for years. It made them miss her, even if they didn't really know her.
"I wish she could be here with us now," Jacob whispered, staring into the flames as they danced before him, casting an eerie light across the group.
"I know man," Embry replied solemnly, "Five years…"
Sam looked confused, but Leah grabbed his arm before he could ask, explaining quietly, "Today is the five-year anniversary of Bella's abduction and Renee's death."
"Oh God," Sam breathed, suddenly understanding the shift in the atmosphere, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"It's ok," Leah assured him, as Quil raised his cup in the air, making a toast as he stared longingly into the fire, "To Bella. We will always remember her, and we will always miss her, but we live on, and we honor her every single day."
"To Bella," the others echoed with sad smiles on their faces.
Inside the house, oblivious to the children's somber remembrance, Charlie turned from the others at the sound of the phone ringing on the wall. "Hold that thought," he called over his shoulder to Billy as he made his way to answer, "Hello?"
"Is this Charlie Swan?" a man's voice came through the line. Charlie didn't recognize it, but answered all the same, "Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you?"
"Mr. Swan," the man continued, a hint of a smile in his voice, "My name is Detective Suarez from the Ithaca Police Department in New York. I am calling in regards to your daughter, Isabella Swan."
Charlie's heart nearly stopped at hearing his daughter's name. The police calling about Bells after all this time could only mean one of two things: somehow she was alive and they'd found her, or she was dead and they'd recovered her body. He couldn't breathe for a moment thinking of the second, and more likely possibility. "What about Bells?" he finally asked, his voice catching in his throat.
Everyone in the kitchen heard his voice crack as he uttered her name, and suddenly the other parents were silent, waiting, praying.
"We've found her, sir," the detective finally told him, "Miss Swan is alive."
It was just an average Saturday afternoon when he got the call, but it was a call that changed everything…
A/N: I hope that the fact that Sam and Leah are still together at the beginning of this story is sufficient enough to give everyone an idea of where in the original plot line this will take place. None of the wolves have shifted yet, which of course means Sam has yet to imprint on anyone. In addition, in my version of events, the Cullens have yet to arrive in Forks. This will come into play later on, and is important to understanding what Bella has endured over the past five years.