Disclaimer - I do not own Twilight, if you recognize anything that means it's probably not mine. This is purely for entertainment.

"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
'Pack Mind'

Chapter 3

Leah P.O.V.

I wake up and slowly rub the sleep out of my eyes before I look at the clock by my bed. It reads 10:00 A.M. and I sigh. I just got in around 4:30 from my patrol and now I have to get up because my parents agreed to go over to the Black's house for a cookout. I shake my head; at least there will be some people my age to talk to. I yawn as I head for a quick shower and dress in my usual shorts and a sleeveless shirt. 'Thank god Dad was around to explain to mom about the pack tattoo.' I slip on some shoes and head down the road to the cookout.

When I arrived Sam was off to one side with my dad, Billy, and the other council elders. For this I was glad because that meant he wouldn't be all over Emily for me to see. Jared and Paul were munching on everything in sight, thank god I got a much smaller appetite from my transformation than they did. That doesn't mean I can't eat, I still eat twice as much as my dad and Seth, my baby brother. In front of the garage was Jake, Embry, and oh god Quil. That boy doesn't understand the word no, not to mention the fact that he thinks he's god's gift to women. I sigh I don't really want to put up with Paul's temper right now so I make my way towards them. I notice as I walk towards them that Embry and Jake are looking bigger, they might phase soon. I shrug 'I'll mention it to Sam later.'

As I get closer I hear Jake talking about some girl named Bella. 'Why does that name make my heart skip a beat?' I ignore it and continue on saying hi to the boys. I don't care much to be here but I have to at least talk to someone and that is NOT going to be Emily. They all nod and mumble hellos then continue on talking about the girl Bella, my heart still stutters a bit when I hear that name, and how he ran into her at the beach yesterday. She was apparently very interested in our legends and about why the Cullens aren't allowed down here. I start to wonder if maybe it was her that I saved that day. I shake my head before I could get caught up in my thoughts and get my hopes up.

After we all ate the get-together started to die down and I take my chance to leave. 'Life is so boring I almost wish I was still in school…almost.' I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling just waiting for time to start my patrol. I couldn't keep my thoughts from wandering to her. It's been over four months and a day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about her. Better than thinking about Sam and Emily I guess. I shrug internally and continue trying to picture her face. I can see her pale skin and her long, straight, dark brown hair. I can almost make out the shape of her face, prominent cheekbones but where I always get lost is her eyes. I can't make out her eyes!

I slam my fist into my pillow, 'why do I even think about her like this?'…I mean I know she was safe, Sam told me he checked to make sure she wasn't still in the forest where I left her and there was no blood or anything so I assume she made it home. I just feel this pull inside me and I feel like I will go insane if I don't find her. 'It's almost like I imprinted on…wait no, I'm not a lesbian…am I?' I shrug so what if I am…she was beautiful that's for sure.

I sigh 'Damn it, there is only one person who knows how it feels to imprint and I SO do not want to talk to him about it.' I curse internally then jump out my window and head for Emily's place. I walk in as we always do and Emily is in the kitchen, it kills me to see those scars even if I am mad at her I still love her.

"Hi Leah." She greets me.

"Hi Emily" I respond as politely as I can and this time I even force a smile which I can tell from the look on her face surprises her. "Is Sam around? I kinda need to talk to him." She nods and points to the back door, I go out to find him chopping wood for the fire. "Sam" he looks up at me with a questioning look.

"Leah, something wrong?" 'Damn it…he always could read me well.' I sigh and nod.

"I need you to tell me about..." I grit my teeth and breathe the last word. "imprinting."

He looks at me eyes wide. "You want to talk to me of all people about imprinting?" the sadness in his voice helps me know that he truly is sorry. I nod.

He clears his throat and begins to speak. "The legends describe it as this. 'It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like... gravity moves... suddenly, it's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does... You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, a friend, or a lover.' The imprint occurs upon looking into the eyes of their soul mate."

I look at the ground for a few moments then look him in the eye. "How does it 'feel' Sam?"

He looks at me and sighs. "I feel a pull to her no matter where I am…if I'm away from her for very long I feel like I'll go insane." I nod, this was sounding way too familiar for me.

"Do you know..." I cleared my throat and he looks at me again. "What happens if you saw the person but didn't look into their eyes what you would feel then?"

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Leah, did you imprint?" he asks kindly.

I shrug with a confused look on my face. "I…I don't know."

He sits quietly a moment. "…because you didn't look into their eyes." I nod. "Honestly Leah, I don't know…what do you feel?"

I let out a breath. I knew this was coming I choose my words carefully because I didn't want him to know it was a girl just yet. "I can't get them out of my mind their face takes up like my every thought...it's like I'll go insane if I don't see them. I almost feel like my heart is trying to pull itself to them."

He nods "That's how I feel about Emily." I take my head in my hands…does this mean when I look into her eyes that I'll imprint…I think it does.

Somehow I think I'm ok with that. I look over to Sam and he's looking at me with a thoughtful expression. "I know you want to say something…please just say it." I say in probably the kindest tone I have used with him since he imprinted on her.

"They say the same thing happens to the imprint Leah, they feel it too. Who is it…why don't you just tell them?"

I let out a long deep breath. "I don't know…" I practically whimper out. He looks at me with confusion on his face. "I saw them once…for a few minutes. I haven't even fully seen their face." I'm practically in tears. "I understand you now…why…why you left me." He nods sadly. "You said the imprint feels the same thing?" he nods again. "Could you ask Emily to come out here please?" He nods and walks inside, a couple minutes later she comes out and sees the single tear that is rolling down my cheek. "I'm sorry." I breathe out. "I never understood how you could do what you did…but if you felt like I do now I understand." She nods sadly I can tell she doesn't like to see me in pain.

"It's alright Leah, I tried to resist it…I didn't want to hurt you but I just couldn't." I nod and she wraps her arms around me…my cousin, my best friend, my sister, I finally had her back. The dam breaks and the tears fall this is the first time I've truly let myself cry in the last year. She keeps whispering to me things like 'It'll be ok' and 'we'll help you'.

After what feels like hours the crying tapers off into sobs and hiccups. "Thank you Emily…god I missed you so much."

She nods "I missed you too."

"Emily, I uh…need to talk to you about this. I umm don't want Sam to know just yet." She nods and takes my hand. We walk down to the beach and sit at the edge of the water. "It's about the person we think I'm going to imprint on." She nods for me to continue. "They…it's…it's a girl." She gasps in surprise and I can't help but feel fear. 'Will she hate me? Will she think I'm disgusting?'

My thoughts are ended with her words. "It's ok Leah, if you imprinted on her that means she's your other half…she's meant for you and you for her." I nod trying to hold back the tears.

"I…I don't know what to do. I don't know who she is, her name, I haven't even seen her face Emily." She gives me a supporting smile but I can see the sadness in her eyes.

She wants to help me but she doesn't know how either. "Does anyone else know?"

I shake my head then stop "well Jared probably suspects, since I think about her a lot on patrol…you heard about when I phased right?" She nods that she knows the story. "That was the girl…the one that I saved."

She nods…"We'll find her Leah…I promise you." I nod my thanks and just hold onto her.

"Leah" I look up at her. "You need to talk to your parents…they need to know. Maybe they could help you."

I nod sadly I just hope they take it as well as she did. "But Emily…what if they…" a couple tears make their way down my cheek.

"They love you, they'll accept you. Plus they know all about how your imprint is your other half, your soul mate. They know you'll be happy and that's all a parent wants for their children." I nod feeling a bit better. "I do have an idea though." I look up at her excitedly. "Well it's obviously not one of the girls from the reservation right?" I nod. "So from Forks then…we could have a big bonfire next weekend. Have Jake invite that girl he likes and tell her to bring all her friends."

I smile brightly and give a kiss on the cheek. "That's great! Thanks Em!" I sit happily for a few minutes.

I sigh loudly, "Time to talk to mom and dad."

She nods. "Do you want me to come with you?"

I shake my head. "I need to do this alone…" She smiles and nods. "But I will start with some good news…that I finally made up with you and Sam."

She laughs. "I'll tell Sam our idea but I won't mention that it's a girl yet…he can talk to the elders tomorrow."

"Thanks Em." I sigh and make my way home dreading having this talk with mom and dad. I make my way up the steps and through the door. I can hear mom in the kitchen and dad is watching some game on TV.

I take a deep breath. "Mom, dad I need to talk to you."