I do not own Twilight, any of its characters or plot.

Soundtrack of Chapter Three: Metric – "Empty"

Staring at the Sun

Chapter Three

"Family Woes"

A few days after her mother dropped the bomb on her, Bella Swan could no longer avoid the subject of her unplanned –and permanent – move away. No amount of pleading had changed her mother's mind. No amount of silent treatment either.

So now it was time for packing. Or more like, throwing random things around her room in outrage.

"She is kicking me out" she seethed, throwing books and pieces of clothing into a bag. "She is kicking me out" She ripped her underwear drawer from in her closet, dumping all its contents inside another bag. "She's kicking me out!" Bella finally screeched, the sheer volume hurting her own ears.

"I cannot say I'm surprised, my dear" the sudden soothing tones invaded her mind, and Bella turned to her left in surprised. There on her computer desk sat her aging grandmother, Marie, smiling comfortingly.

"Granny! I didn't even hear you come in." Bella smiled, surprised. For an old frail woman with arthritis, she sure had some stealth on her still. Bella didn't mind though, Granny Marie was the only person in the world allowed in her room without need for permission. Besides, Bella swore the aging lady had a sixth sense regarding her granddaughter's needs, for she would always miraculously show up whenever Bella was distressed.

Looking at the serene woman, Bella couldn't help the sudden onslaught of tears as she swallowed a huge lump in her throat. She wouldn't be seeing Granny again so soon. How could her mother do that to her? To both of them?

"She's taking me away again, Granny" Bella murmured, valiantly holding back her tears. She took three steps, going to her knees besides her grandmother's chair.

"I cannot say this is unexpected, she's done that so many times before, my dear. You know I have little say in what she does. She doesn't hear me, only you do." She murmured softly, but Bella easily detected a hint of bitterness in her tone.

"But never forget, my dear…No matter what, I will never leave need only think about me and I will be there." she crooned.

Bella sniffled a few more times, finding strength in her grandmother's composure. She slowly got up, wiping a few traitorous tear tracks from her face with the back of her hands. "But she is making me change everything! I'm practically moving to Alaska… And she knows how much I hate the cold! Nothing will be the same…", Bella insisted.

"Now, it might actually not be so bad, my dear" Marie said, as she tremulously got up from her chair. "There's your father there, his routine is so predictable. And you love predictability. There are your friends, the boys and girls you grew up with at the reservation, remember? You even get to spend the whole summer with them. It is something you have always wanted, isn't it?" Bella nodded as her grandmother moved to the window, wistfully watching the world outside. Her grandmother was right as always, Bella sighed, but that did not make her any less angry at the prospect of leaving.

And how could she leave Marie? Who was going to take care of her? Renee? Bella snorted, Renee could barely take care of a cactus plant, let alone care for her aging grandmother.

"I don't need to be taken care of, child" Marie suddenly spoke, in a reproachful tone. Bella looked up, surprised. It was amazing how she always knew what Bella was thinking. "The day I let someone, specially your mother, take care of me, is the day hell will freeze over!" Bella flinched at the reproving remark, smiling nonetheless at her grandmother's fierceness.

Marie narrowed her eyes and turned fully to Bella. "Now finish packing, my dear. Your room is a mess, look!" She pointed to the various books and sheets. "The clothes in your bags are not even sorted by colors. Shame on you, child!"

Bella gasped at the comment. She looked inside the bags, reds and whites and greens all mixed together. Oh, the horror! How could she have allowed such!

Appalled at herself, Bella attacked her bags with furious single mindedness, organizing the items thoroughly for the next few minutes. So occupied was she, that she never even noticed when her grandmother slipped away from her room. The next time she looked up, the aging woman simply wasn't there anymore.

…

Leah Clearwater was having a bad day. No, scratch that, she was having a whole damn bad month. Between finals and dealing with her boyfriend's bizarre behavior lately, she certainly didn't feel like going to some stupid barbecue. But her parents didn't exactly give her a choice, so now she found herself at the back yard of her house, surrounded by grill smoke, laughter and happy people.

Yuck.

But the last thing Leah needed was her mother's ire, so she behaved properly, greeting and even smiling at people, even though all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and suffer in peace and silence.

But if there was one up side of barbecues it was food, and Leah knew for a fact that stuffing her mouth full would be the best way to avoid having to talk to people. She wasted no time in swiftly finding the nearest table packed with yummy goodies.

It was no surprise at all that there she found Jacob Black, Quil Ateara V and Embry Call up to the very same task; the three boys eagerly pilling mountains of food in their respective plates. Leah actually found them tolerable company and figured they too, having their own problems to deal with, would rather eat than talk. She took a plate, piled her own mountain and took a seat next to them. To Leah's delight the boys simply grunted in acknowledgment, barely looking up from their plates.

They ate merrily in relative silence, eventually commenting on which dishes tasted the best. The four were left mostly in peace until they each felt a looming presence behind them and wearily turned their heads one by one, only to find Charles Swan staring back at them with a malicious smile on his face.

There were a few audible swallows as the man approached the four teenagers. He promptly dragged a chair, sat down and narrowed his eyes as he stared down each one of them, mentally trying to infuse apprehension into their very souls.

Little did they know Charlie had been waiting for the best moment to gather these four for a sat down, and the prospect of free food and beverages - which he just knew would attract them– had given him the perfect opportunity to exert the parental directories he had been meaning to apply. His baby girl would be arriving soon, and it was time for Charlie to lay down the law, so that he could make sure that ride was as smooth as possible.

He only wished he had brought his gun - for motivational purposes, of course.

Charlie grinned sardonically watching as the four discreetly looked at each other wondering if they could try for a quick escape but wisely decided to stay put. After a few seconds of staring them down, Charlie finally spoke. "Listen up you four. Y'all know my baby girl is coming to live in Forks, so I expect y'all to behave in a certain manner" He spoke with great authority, causing the teenagers to raise their eyebrows in surprise, not used to this hearing this tone from Charlie.

"You three" Charlie said, pointing a forefinger at the boys "Y'all know Bella hero worships you, so I don't wanna hear none about y'all teaching her any wrong things or taking her anywhere dangerous. That means there will absolutely be no hiking or biking when it's raining… oh,you know what, scratch that! No biking ever! No teaching her how to fight, and - I can't stress it enough - no cliff diving with my baby girl! Do you hear me?!"

The three boys gulped, and Leah snickered. But Charlie wasn't done, he pointed another forefinger at the girl, her playfulness quickly fading. "And you! You know Bella has the worst case of hero worship on you. Hell, to her it's like you own the moon or something! So, I don't wanna hear you teaching her bad words or any rebellious attitude, I don't wanna catch her listening to any of that funky punk-rock-emo mind melting shit that you think is fantastic, but must importantly, there will be no dragging of my baby girl into any relationship dramas. " he spoke in the most authority infused tone he could muster.

He glared directly in each one of their eyes. " Do you all understand me !?" he spoke in clipped tones.

"Yes, Chief!" they all gulped in unison.

"Now, you may go get more food if you want" Charlie said, waving a hand in Leah's direction. They all sighed, relieved, getting up and turning to leave. "Nah uh!" Charlie was quick to amend "I meant Leah only."

"Oh, boy" one of the lads muttered as they sat back down. Leah, only too happy to get away from Charlie, was swift to run out while she still could.

"Now," Charlie glared into the boys' direction. "Y'all know Bella is a growing into a beautiful girl, so I expect you three to treat her as respectfully as you would want anyone to treat your own mothers. She is at least two years your junior, and as much as she says she can take care of herself, I also expect you three to watch over her like hawks while I'm not around." Charlie paused, taking a deep breath and pausing dramatically. He approached the boys and lowered his voice, willing their full attention.

"Most importantly, I expect you three to insert the fear of God into any boy who so much as dares to think he can mess with my baby girl. .Clear?"

"Yes… Chief…" the boys responded slowly, somewhat shocked. But Charlie could see determination become infused in their eyes as they accepted their new roles as his girl's protectors.

"No one will lay a hand on our little princess!" Quil spoke, clenching his fists dramatically.

"Good!" Charlie nodded, relieved. "Now, you all may go find more food, I think I saw Harry just dish out a batch of fish fries" he said and the boys wasted no time in getting up and hurrying to the kitchen.

"Dude, we are still at least biking with her, right?" Charlie heard Quil mumble as the boys got away.

"Duh, of course we are!" Jacob and Embry conspicuously added.

"I heard THAT!" Charlie yelled, causing the boys to jump up and run like the devil was at their heels. The three hurried into the kitchen only to run into Leah, whom was happily munching some of the same fish fries they were after.

"So what else did he want?" she spoke through a mouth full.

"He wanted us to hound her and beat other boys away with a stick until he gets there and beats them with a baseball bat … or shoots them." Embry said as he and Quil cornered Leah and stole pieces of fish fry from her recently refilled plate. She batted them away, annoyed.

"I wonder what it's gonna be like when she gets here. I mean her mom basically kicked her out, so she is probably not gonna be all sunshine and roses when she moves to Forks." Jake pondered as he too snuck one piece from her plate.

"But at least she has Charlie…" Quil mumbled while chewing.

Leah huffed at him and turned to Embry. "How would you feel like if your mom suddenly ditched you with your dad?" Leah asked.

"What dad?!" Embry frowned.

"Exactly!" Leah fired back. "Charlie is not really a dad to Bella, he is the guy she sees a couple of weeks, once a year during the summer" she spoke to them in a low volume, trying not to be heard by others outside their conversation. "And even then, he doesn't really know how to handle her, he mostly just ditches her with us while he goes of fishing, working or whatever. Hell, most of the time she sleeps in one of our houses instead of his own." Leah sighed as she explained. "Living permanently here might throw her totally out of her element ..."

The boys fell silent after that, not having thought about that before.

"She is right, you know" the teens jumped as they heard the deep baritones of the Chief of the Quilleute Tribe. They turned to look at him, surprised that a man in a wheel chair had been able to sneak up on them like that.

"She is going to need our support" Billy Black said in caring tones. "So will Charlie, as he is not used to being a full time father either. I expect those two to clash like titans, at least in the beginning. We all know Bella can be quite the hurricane when she wants to."

The four teenagers looked at each other, grinning. They all remembered times when Bella proved to be more than Charlie could handle. She had probably given him premature grey hairs.

"But I also think we don't need to worry so bad. Remember that Bella has lived in more cities than all of us combined. She is used to moving away all the time, and aside from the minor OCD thing, she turned out perfectly fine… way better than average really. If Bella is anything, she is adaptable. I actually think we will be the ones to feel the impact of her presence here, more than she will" he said, as he rolled his wheel chair closer. "Now… on that note, pour me some of that fried food. I just have the feeling Bella is gonna ban me from eating any of the good stuff when she gets here, so I need to enjoy it while I can".

Leah pilled a large amount of food on a plate for Billy, concerned to note the intense tiredness in his eyes. She remembered how her own father had been staying out late due to Council meetings and figured Billy had been probably staying out even later, due to his status of Chief.

She wondered if he had been taking proper care of his health during the difficult times the tribe was facing due to legal battles with other tribes over fishing territories. It was certainly a huge responsibility on Billy's and the rest of the Council's shoulders.

Jacob hadn't commented on anything, but the worried looks she caught the boy sending his father's way told much of what she needed to know.

Maybe Bella coming back to Forks would be good after all, Leah thought as she allowed a tiny smile to grace her features. No one knew how to keep Billy's health in check better than Hawk Swan herself.

…

That very same night, Billy Black found himself sitting in yet another Council meeting. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying to fight back the exhaustion he felt for not having slept properly over the past weeks. He was tired, bone tired, over dealing with tribe bureaucracy, legal matters, and – he could barely accept as true - the brutal awakening of bestial legends inside the body of young native boys of his tribe.

He had now been in a discussion with Old Quil and the rest of the Council about whether or not they should expose the truth about the emerging of the Spirit to all boys of the bloodlines most likely to be affected. Old Quil was adamant that they did, Billy was obstinate that they didn't. At least not yet.

There was the very real possibility of many of them not ever experiencing any of the side effects of the transformation. The very last Pack had only had three members and the Council was now talking about completely changing – possibly ruining - the lives of at least fifteen kids, some of those them not even ten years old yet.

Billy wanted to at least buy those boys some time. Selfishly, he didn't want his son's smile to disappear; he didn't want him to shoulder such a heavy burden. And he would bear a very heavy load, as the boy's bloodline entitled him the role of Alpha, leader of those affected by the Spirit.

A burden that should have been his own, Billy seethed internally, as he cursed his useless body.

The discussion had easily become a shouting match, the Elders railing on Quil's side, and the younger members - whose kids they were actually talking about - on Billy's side. But everyone suddenly became silent as Samuel Uley - specially invited for this meeting as he was on one of his rare days of stable human form - suddenly got up from his chair, his hulking body towering menacingly over them.

The boy's figure quivered from head to toe, like an earthquake. For a second his frame expanded slightly, and every face in that room paled considerably, wondering if he would lose control so close to Council members. But no one screamed, no one ran, no one dared to bat an eyelash.

You can't just run from a Wolf.

"I…" the boy's new and impressive bass washed over the Council people. His voice cracked however, perhaps for lack of use, for none of them had heard him utter a word for days. He cleared his throat a couple of times, and took deep breaths, his massive form diminishing somewhat. A modicum of control.

"I agree with Chief Black" he said. "I can take on whatever I have to, alone. For now at least… Give my friends the time they need to be themselves." His voice racked again, but he continued.

"I have lived free of this…", he wanted greatly to say curse, but chose otherwise. "This part of me for twenty years, my childhood and teen years were happy. Don't take this time away from your sons, don't take away … the happiness I … took for granted." His breathing was ragged as he suddenly collapsed back in his chair, unable to hold his human form standing so long, given the tremors coursing through his entire frame. But he continued his speech.

"We can keep an eye on them… We… I can tell them if they start showing signs of… this" He waved a hand over his own form, somewhat in derision. "I am willing to make this sacrifice for your children, for my friends. Let them be…free, for as long as they can be. When… if they start showing signs of the transformation, I will let you know and we can tell them everything."

After that only silence remained for several seconds, until Old Quil got up from his seat and approached the quavering giant. "Are you sure about this, boy? To take on such a burden alone?"

Sam Uley could not find his voice to answer, so he closed his eyes and nodded.

Old Quil chanced a look at all Elders, some of them sighing, others chanting silent prayers, but most of them nodded. He looked at Billy Black. "Have it your way, Chief. But be sure of this, we too will be watching."

Billy sighed and nodded, relieved that he had bought his son at least one last summer of normalcy.

As Sam Uley later watched the Council members going to their respective homes, leaving him alone, he understood that choosing to be on his own had been the biggest sacrifice of his life.

He sighed, slowly entering the woods, fighting the coiled heat in his stomach that urged him to hunt, to roar, to explode. He tried to keep steady paces, remembering how the tiniest thing could force what made him human to just slip away.

As he slinked into the forest, he allowed a single tear to run down his face as he fell to the ground and felt his body expanding beyond the scope of his clothes, tearing at them, tearing at him. Blinding pain overtook him as his bones and muscles realigned to give way to the monster inside.

It was the Spirits' way of showing him how he actually didn't know a thing about sacrifice… yet.