A/N: Hi. Sorry for the long wait again! I hope you guys like it. :) Thanks again for everyone that reviewed and favorited this story. I'd really like to personally thank each of you, but I just wouldn't know what to say. Whenever I see that I have a new review, I get so excited.

"Do you think it's possible for there to be... others here, Neji-nii?" She asks him, burying her toes in the sand. Neji doesn't say anything for a moment, eyes trained on the sunset.

There's a bonfire going on on the other side of the beach. She's supposed to meet Seth there in 10 minutes... she said that she'd bring her cousin. And she will. She can only hope that it all goes well.

"I don't know," He replies finally, honestly.

"The only others that... died after you were... Choji, Ino..." Poor Shikamaru...

Neji hesitates long enough for her to notice. "L-Lee—"

Hinata can't stop her gasp. "Lee? H-how?"

Neji sighs. "He... tried protecting Gai-sensei... they both got themselves killed in the process. Hoshigaki Kisame..." His face darkens.

"Tenten and I made sure that they were avenged, though. They say here that... that on the path of vengeance, you should make two graves, but... it's not exactly the same in the world of Shinobi, is it?"

Hinata shakes her head silently.

"Not at all," She whispers, grasping his hand tightly with her own.

After a few long moments, she swallows and asks, "Who else?" She almost dreads to know, but she needs to.

"... Shino," He mutters, not flinching as she lets out a dry sob.

"How?" Her voice breaks.

"I don't know." He regrets his answer almost as soon as it leaves his mouth.

Hinata is on her feet, running her hands through her hair; shoulders shaking and stomach churning.

"No one else was supposed to die."

He can barely make out her words, but he agrees wholeheartedly.

"No one," He whispers, but knows that there's not much either of them can do about it now. They each sacrificed themselves for the so-called greater good, but did it make any difference at all in the end? They may never know, and that is almost worse than dying.

They make the short trek to the bonfire, slowly untangling their fingers as they come closer.

"You've been in Port Angeles since now," Hinata mutters in their native tongue. Neji merely nods, letting out a sigh. "He better not be a tool, Hinata-sama-" She can't stop the surprised giggle from leaving her throat.

She likes the new Neji.

Seth comes trotting over to them, a bright smile breaking out on his face.

"You must be Neji!" He says, holding his hand out for the older boy to shake. With a raised brow, the Hyuuga boy stares at it. Hinata nudges him, "Come on, nii-san," Finally, Neji takes the offered hand.

"You must be Seth,"

"That I am!" Seth winces at the hard grip.

Hinata shakes her head, before telling them that she'll be by the fire—and Embry just happens to be over there too.

Before she leaves, she hears Neji mutters to Seth: "Hurt her and I swear to whatever god you believe in—" Oh, Neji.

She steps next to Embry, wondering silently if all the heat is from the bonfire or from him.

"That's your cousin?" He sounds almost relieved; she can't help but wonder why.

"Yeah," She answers easily, shifting her gaze to meet his. They stare for—for a long time. In the back of her mind, she wonders how he knew.

"You've heard the legends, right?" Embry finally asks, blinking rapidly and averting his gaze to the flames. He buries his hands in his pockets and rocks back and forth on his heels... a bit of a challenge in the sand, but he manages it just fine.

"I've h-heard a few." She had been in La Push for several years now. Seth invited her to several of the other bonfires, but he mostly liked spending time alone with her. She didn't have any problem with that, usually.

"The wolves?"

"The wolves." She confirms, a bubbly feeling appearing in her chest. Was she right? About... him? They're wolves—

"The... Third Wife? Have you heard about her?"

She blinks. "I can't say I have." Embry smiles.

"Well good. Billy Black is telling it tonight... he's the best, in my opinion. Jake's dad has always been... a great person." His voice breaks at the end, but he doesn't allow her time to dwell on it. He immediately jumps to: "So, do you want something to drink? We've got a lot... you like Coke, right?"

"Do you have an-any warm cans?" She didn't care much for cold soda, to be honest. She didn't care much for soda at all, but... warm Coke—can't beat it, in Hinata's opinion.

He pauses. "Yeah," He mutters quietly, face breaking out into a large smile. It practically blinds her.

"We do."

They get their drinks and settle down into the sand. Embry seems almost apologetic.

"I didn't know you'd be here so I didn't know to bring any chairs—" Hinata cuts him off with a smile. "It's fine, really. I... I like the sand."

He smiles. "I've always loved the beach." Hinata nods, and for a moment, she allows herself to speak—

"Where I'm from, there aren't many beaches. There are tons of lakes and rivers, though. It rains a lot, but it's always so hot. Except in the winter... it gets freezing. It's cr-crazy, really. But it's... great. A friend of m-mine worked at a family-owned flower shop... she could always get flowers to grow even when the temperatures were in the negatives. It a-always boggled my mind... I always wondered how she could create things so beautiful in a place so cold and desolate. How... how can things properly grow when there's no one around to nourish them? Except she did, but she... she can't anymore-" She cuts herself off, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Cold and desolate.

Words she's used to describe the Hyuuga compound on more than one occasion.

She licks her lips, a tingly feeling starting in her veins.

"I... think I understand," Embry says after a moment. She turns to him, noticing the thoughtful look on his face.

"Where did you used to live?"

She freezes.

"You probably d-don't know where it is,"

Embry stares at her, dark chocolate eyes searching for something. Finally, he shrugs and grins. "Yeah, I was never too good in geography. Barely passed it last year. You've never had that problem, though, right? You always get good grades?"

He sounds genuinely curious, which is a welcome change from the usual judgmental tones that people have when talking about her academics.

She smiles. "I guess so... I've always loved school," Embry shudders dramatically, as if the very thought was painful. Hinata cracks a smile, sort of understanding. She used to hate the lessons she received in the compound—and she usually disliked the academy too. Naruto made it a little better, though, just by being there.

All of a sudden, he sobers.

"Do you have a college picked out?"

She hesitates. He notices but says nothing.

"... Sort of," She mutters after a moment. "I told S-Seth that I'm going to one near Seattle or Port Angeles... but I..." She feels heat pool into her cheeks at the intensity of his gaze.

"I wanted to go to Japan. Back to Japan... I wanted to study the history and—"

She shakes her head.

"But now that my cousin is here... I don't know. I need to be with him."

"Why?" She doesn't expect that.

"He's... family,"

Embry bites his bottom lip. "You've got your parents, though, right? Why not stay for them?" He knows that their relationship isn't so great, but neither is his relationship with his mom.

Hinata sighs. "Yeah, but... Neji is..." She trails off. "Neji is a link to a lifestyle I thought I l-left behind."

The memories of Hinata and Neji fighting on the beach drifts into his mind.

She knows how to fight; so does her cousin. They're experts, really. Better than almost anything he'd ever seen... straight out of the ninja movies.

"What kind of lifestyle is that?" Hadn't she moved here when she was pretty young? What kind of 'lifestyle' could she have had at the age of ten?

She swallows roughly, clenching and unclenching her fists. She stares straight ahead, to the reflection of the moon in the ocean.

"I don't know what to tell you," She finally says. It's practically a whimper, and instantly his wolf is whining. Neither of them like seeing Hinata like this, but—

but Embry needs to know.

When a lone tear rolls down her cheek, however, he decides that he can always wait until she tell him herself.

He closes his eyes, his chin trembling slightly as he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay," He murmurs, pulling her close. Silent sobs rack her shoulders and he can feel tears against his bare chest, and he doesn't know what to say to make her feel better—and all he wants is for her to feel better.

He swallows.

"Please," He whispers, "Please tell me what's wrong. I want to help you... I need to help you,"

She stiffens. Finally, she pulls away, as if nothing was ever wrong to begin with. The tear tracks on her cheeks tell a different story, however. She forces a smile and shakes her head.

"Sorry! I guess it's just that time of month, r-right?"

He furrows his brow.

"Hinata," He cuts her off. "Hinata, that's... something's wrong. I know there is. And it has something to do with your cousin, doesn't it? I just..." His shoulders tremble as he punches the sand. She flinches slightly, causing him to immediately bring his hands back to his side and take in a calming breath.

"I just... you're a friend, and... if you ever need to talk... please come to me."

Even though if she ever needed to talk, she would most likely go to Neji, she appreciates Embry for being there. She licks her lips and closes her eyes, allowing a tiny smile to grace her lips.

"Thanks," She mutters, standing back up. Embry quickly follows suit. She opens her eyes—graygraygray just like the moon in the ocean—and he practically feels his soul coming apart and mending itself back together all in the span of a second.

"No problem," He says, though she's already halfway back across the beach—to the boyfriend; to the cousin; away from him.

"What happened over there?" Neji asks her urgently in the native tongue. Hinata clenches her jaw and sucks in a breath, meeting his gaze. Instantly, he closes his eyes, as if unable to stand his reflection in her orbs.

"Just... you know how it is, cousin," And he does, so he nods. He knows what it's like to need comfort. He knows what it's like to not find it, but he's glad that Hinata has, even for just a moment.

Seth purses his lips, ignoring the slip of anger in his chest.

Embry Call was pushing the limits of friends, and Seth didn't like it one bit.

He tries to push it away, though, because his girlfriend looks so sad right now—so disturbingly sad that he almost can't ignore the call to pull her into his arms and hold her tight—so he doesn't ignore it. He brings her close to him and she holds him just as tightly.

"I love you," He breathes into her hair. She merely places her forehead on his shoulder.

It's the first time she never said it back, though he barely notices at the time.

Though Seth and Neji both ask if she wants to leave, she shakes her head. She wants to hear the legends—and God is she glad that she stayed.

Billy Black really makes the stories come to life; as if she were there too, with the Third Wife and Taha Aki and—

there's that word. Imprint.

Soulmates.

Bonded for life.

Mates.

Lovers. Friends. Brother. Whatever the imprint wanted.

Hinata can feel Embry's gaze on her through out it all, but she doesn't dare look him in the eyes.

Part of her is a little ashamed. A little embarrassed. A little really to climb into bed and cry her eyes out, even though she already cried all over him earlier.

Because she never expected this.

Or, well, she did. She just hoped that it didn't happen... she always hoped that after she died, everyone else would live, which was an incredibly stupid dream, considering the Shinobi nations were at war, but...

But she didn't want Naruto or Kiba or Neji or Hanabi or Sakura or her father, to have to go to another funeral for another dead teammate; another dead relative; another dead friend, mother, brother, sister, cousin, lover. She didn't want anyone to feel the loss of losing a loved one.

But she can't, couldn't, control those things. Even if she had lived, those things would have happened—Chouji, Ino, Lee, Shino still would have died. She couldn't have saved them, but she always expected Naruto to. He probably always expected the same thing... he probably beat himself up over their deaths. Over her death, even.

And though may never see him in this lifetime, she hopes that he managed to find peace with his demons—literally and figuratively—because in time, she's going to have to find peace with hers. And so is Neji.

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