(A/N) This story was inspired by Ysar's "Breathe Again." If you haven't read that fic yet, put it on your list of things to do, especially if you're a Jacob/Bella shipper. It's an amazing story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, that's why it's called FANfiction. Some of the terminology I use in the story could be construed as racist, but realize that I'm writing this story from the stand point of a Native American woman, and the terms I use are ones of endearment. :-)

Anyways, enjoy.

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Home is where the heart is.

Everybody says it, most people believe it. My question is: where is the heart? I've been a wanderer for many years and if it wasn't for my cousin, Sam Uley, I'd be halfway to Florida by now. My dad was a wanderer too, it's why I'm restless. My whole life was caused by a little wandering.

18 years ago, my father was tasting the fruits of freedom. He filled his tank with gas and just started driving. 500 miles later, he stopped in a small town called Forks. It was supposed to be a quick stop, just to visit an old friend from high school, Harry Clearwater. Harry introduced him to Billy Black, a fishing buddy, who then proceeded to introduce him to Naomi, his wife. Naomi Black was the friend of everyone in town and on both the Makah and Quileute reservations. With hundreds of Native American women between the two, it stands as a stroke of luck that dad fell in love with Mary Uley.

Their love affair was brief, but intense. My father, I believe, truly loved Mary, but the spirit of a wanderer does not easily find rest. He waited until I was three years old before leaving. My mother was heartbroken. Not even a year after he was gone, she passed away from the sheer power of her grief. Sam's family took me in, raised me like my father should have. No matter how many calls were made, or how often letters were sent, he never came home.

Unfortunately, as much as they tried, they could not take my wandering spirit away. I would constantly walk off as a chlid, not returning until several hours later when the police were already notified and properly concerned. I stayed with them until my 16th birthday. Things were getting a little freaky around the rez. Sam had gotten a huge growth spurt last year, broke off his engagement to Leah (which really pissed me off), and then his new flame, Emily Young from the Makah rez, wrestled a bear and lost.

So I left, La Push just got a little too freaky deaky for me. I wandered aimlessly for a long time before I got the brains to look for my dad. People had lost contact with him, but I still had his last known destination: Orlando, Florida. Why that metropolitan area, I don't know, but I was determined to find him.

On my sweet sixteen, I skipped the party and borrowed my Uncle's truck. The old Ford couldn't go very fast, but it could go far if I treated it well. I managed to avoid my contacts back home for fear I'd be sent back to the rez. I would stop occassionally and end up working in dinky little restaurants for gas money. I would always move on eventually, but it was nice to drink up indivdual cities' cultures. At one point I ended up sticking around this small town in Pennsylvania on one of my longer detours. I made some friends, moved in with them and hung around for a year or so. I spent the majority of my 17th year with Emma and Jackson. In fact, I got so damn comfortable, I figured calling the rez would do no harm. Sam answered the home phone. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sam, it's me, August."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Around..."

"Get back home, now."

I was naive enough to think that he wouldn't come fetch me once I told him how well I was getting along in Burgettstown. That naivité was my ultimate downfall. I booked it like the devil himself was chasing at my heels and was at the state lines of West Virginia and Virginia when he caught up with me. Sam was pissed, but overwhelmed with joy that he found me. I couldn't burst his bubble, so I just lumped my bags in his car and let his old flame, now fiancee, Emily drive my truck.

I sort of gave him the cold shoulder one the way back to La Push, but as far as I was concerned, he was a jailor taking me back to prison. The title sort of fit him anyways, what with his consistantly sober expression and huge frame. And when I say huge, I'm not exaggerating. He was like a human Sasquatch! I didn't think it was humanly possible to get that large, but trust Sam to try the impossible and succeed.

The home back on the rez was just like I remembered. Cozy, small and packed with a family's warmth. Sam wouldn't tell me what happened to his parents, so when I asked Emily, she explained that apparently packing up and spontaneously deciding to move into an RV to see the world is a point of shame in Sam's eyes. He has too many connections to the tribe to really stray out of his comfort zone. All I could think was, "good for them." They had always talked about venturing out and seeing the world, but their obligations to Sam and I had held them back. I guess when I left, they had more reason to explore.

I'm beginning to think that there's something in the water here on the rez, because a lot of the boys I used to know as scrawny string beans could now give the jolly green giant a run for his money. Just paint them green and make them wear leaves and the look will be complete. It's bad enough them wandering around in shorts alone, are they trying to give a girl a heart attack?

Sam's got a freaking entourage now too. I mean, he always hung out with Jared when we were younger, but now he's got a whole pack of the bronze skin boys following him around. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty convenient for male watching/ogling, but it's kind of strange that they all wander around together. I thought it was girls who were supposed to wander around like pack animals. The funny thing is, sometimes I could swear everything they do is choreographed because they move in synchronization. For instance, we went to the beach for my 18th birthday, and even though the water's too cold for swimming, most of the girls wore bathing suits. Everytime a girl would walk by, they would all give them looks of... hunger, for lack of a better word, all at the same time.

Except for Sam and Jared, and Quil too for that matter. Little Quil Ateara, who is no longer little at all, he's become strangely attached to Claire Young, Emily's sister's daughter from the Makah rez. She's barely a day over three now, but she's cute and charming, so I suppose it's normal for him to become her guardian of sorts. Guess there's just something attractive about us russet skinned women.

Sometimes though, I really think there's something going on I'm simply unaware of. They really do act like a wolf pack sometimes. I'm probably just delusional though, nothing could ever happen in La Push., the rez just doesn't entertain crazy behavior. But those boys, Sam, Jared, Paul, Quil, Brady, Colin and Seth, they all look strangely similar and act in sync. Even Leah gets into it every once in a while. But for the most part she just scowls. I think she's still angry at Sam, especially now that Emily has asked her to be her maid of honor. Talk about cold. And honest, longsuffering Leah said yes.

I've been back at the rez for the better part of a year now, but two people have been noticeably absent. Embry Call and Jacob Black. I've never been really close to Jake, he used to follow Bella Swan around and I was more interested in hanging out with the boys. Embry was a good friend to me growing up and if I'm truly honest with myself, I've always had a small crush on him.

The talk around town is that Jacob needed some fresh air and a new perspective after his breakup with Bella Swan. He took off and Embry followed to make sure he didn't end up drunk in a ditch somwhere. Nobody's quite sure when they'll be back, but there's a look in Sam's eyes that says he knows they'll return. That's another quirk of the people and place. There's a surety here, as though, no matter what happens, no matter where people go, as sure as the sun will rise and set, people will always return to La Push. To the rez. To home.

Home. That's what this place is. To whoever needs to be here, or whoever needs to get away from it, La Push will always remain home. Though, I'm not sure what this place means to me anymore. It's no longer my prison, but I'm not sure it's my home either. The biggest lack about this place is that nobody really has fun anymore. I mean, I don't exactly remember this place as being the fun spot of the state, heck, even the county, but I don't recall it ever being so serious. It's almost as though people have some serious weight or duty hanging on their shoulders. At least Rachel's fun.

Oh boy have we torn up the town. Rachel's 21, so she's bought us some booze a few times and we've gotten uproariously drunk. It's always fun to see the guys' reactions when we end up running down to First Beach in nothing but our panties. Sam seems ashamed to call me his cousin at this point, but Paul seems to delight in seeing Rachel smashed and reckless. Though I have to admit I've started laying off the liquor a bit after ending up wandering around the woods, lost and drunk as a skunk. I had given up on finding my way home when I heard a howl. A few actually. Scared the hell out of me. I started running and just when I thought I was free of them, another would howl from so close that I'd panic and start running again. I'd nearly given up on making it out of the woods alive when I was suddenly in a more familiar setting. Home was just up over the hill and I was safe from the wolves.

Whether they were out for my blood or saviors, I was glad to be home. I swore I'd never get that drunk ever again.

Despite all the weirdness around La Push and two of the boys being gone, the Uley's house started to feel like home again. Yeah, I missed Emma and Jackson, tiny Burgettstown and the freedom to wander whenever I wanted to, but there were so many things that make it worth the while. Like, Sam's warm hugs, Emily's cooking, the beautiful Quileute boys and Rachel. Somehow, I have a family again. The funny thing is, I don't think I ever lost it.

I can't wait until Embry's back.