A/N: Wowzers, I got so many wonderful reviews that I was inspired to sit down and bang this out in one sitting. Then I had to go back and edit the heck out of it but still it's like twice the length of the last few updates. Just my way of saying you guys are great and that I couldn't do this without y'all. Big ups!
Mrs. Meyer gave an interview somewhere where she mentioned that Billy had lost use of his legs due to Diabetes. Prior to reading that I had thought that it had been the car accident that killed his wife so it really stuck with me that he had the disorder and it had already progressed to the point of neuropathy, if not worse.
As always, Spanish translations can be found at the very bottom. Y'all are probably going to need them for this one. And a big thanks to Lil for her help.
Renesmee
Sunday Afternoon
Life was good. I was clean and smelled absolutely delightful, if I do say so myself. All the sweat and grime of the past week had been thoroughly exorcised like not even the refugio showers had been able to accomplish, let alone the frigid lake water. Moreover, the late afternoon sun was starting to set behind the monolith-carved skyline, creating a breathtaking layered effect. The tangerine sun cast soft pinks along the underbellies of fluffy purple clouds scattered across the azure sky. It was clear, it was cold, and it was beautiful.
And never before had I ever felt so light. Though I had already put on a couple pounds of muscle, there was a spring to my step like I was walking on some tiny planet with only a fraction of Earth's gravity. We had left the heavy packs back in the cabin and without the familiar weight pining me to the ground I felt positively floaty.
We hiked leisurely along, watching the spectacle of Villa Peheunia's decorations committee in full swing disappearing slowly below our trail. The moon hadn't yet risen but in the highest dome of the sky, the brightest stars were beginning to peek through, coruscating like diamond chips in the darkening velvet of early night. Twilight in the Garden of Eden.
Maya was infectiously happy, bouncing along the trail. Singing Strawberry Fields Forever in Spanish, shimmying her hips and dancing ahead of me as if she was the one who had crossed almost eight thousand miles to see Nahuel. It felt more like I had traveled several parsecs, it was hard to believe I was still on the same planet. And yet I knew logically that I had seen only an infinitesimal amount of what was out there. The magnitude of scope was astounding. I felt so minuscule and yet so connected all at once as I hummed along to her happy tune.
I'd never felt more alive not even when.... Well, yes, then but there's nothing I can do about that now.
Shaking it off before it can hurt me, I grabbed my friend's hand and dance-skipped along with her. Finding her made this all possible, I would have never been able to find this place on my own. Not without her.
"De nada, era fácil. All I had to do was ask some young girls if they knew any beautiful Mapuche men. They all said the same story, that they never met him but they knew where he lived." She flashed her tongue ring before sombering just as quickly. "Your friend is very popular but they are cautious of his mother." Her grip on my hand tightened significantly. "They say she almost never comes into town and only at night."
"Huilen is very nice," I promised, "she just keeps to herself."
Maya eyed me critically for a moment before shrugging in acquiescence and pulling on my hand to quicken the pace.
Night had almost fallen when we rounded the south side of the slope in time to watch the fiery sun dipping into the Pacific Ocean as the village twinkled star-like behind us. Above us, the last few rays bathed a Swiss-style chalet the size of a ski resort in a golden orange glow.
My companion squeezed my hand with both of hers. "There it is. Hemos llegado."
Just as we reached the edge of the yard's well kept perimeter, the heavy wooden door swung open. And there he was.
"¡Ay! They weren't kidding," Maya breathed beside me, "¡Ándale!"
Still as a Renaissance statue and just as striking in the spectrum of the fading sunlight stood my reason for being here, waiting for us. Before today I had thought that my memory was eidetic but I definitely did not remember him being this beautiful.
"Verdad," Maya all but giggled in agreement as we practically skipped up to him like silly schoolgirls.
The dazzling smile he flashed us did nothing to help and it was all I could do to keep from laughing at Maya's exaggerated reaction as we stopped a few feet from him, grinning like idiots.
To cover my giddiness, I promptly stuck out my hand in greeting. "It's so nice to see you again, Nahuel. Up until now, I had no idea how far you had to travel to visit us in Washington. It was most gracious of you."
His eyes sparked in recognition and his smile softened into a more decorous one as he reached for my hand. But the second his skin made contact with mine an electrical impulse shot up my median nerve with such ferocity that it triggered a flexor reflex and my hand yanked away from his grip faster than even my eyes could follow. Behind me Maya sniggered in amusement.
Politely ignoring my social impropriety, he smiled diplomatically. "It's always a pleasure, Renesmee."
"What did he call you? What language is that?" Behind me, off in the periphery, Maya stuck out her tongue in distaste and I felt my face flush hotly in response.
Which was further compounded by the ineffable look Nahuel was giving me, his face was carefully blank but the way he was staring made me feel very strange. Just this morning I had felt invincible, racing up and down mountains in the sunny and exotic Andes so fast that - on the tallest peaks, above the white of the clouds, surrounded by only clear blue sky – it felt like flying, like a dream. I had felt so in my element, so sure of myself. And now I felt like I'd digressed instantaneously back into that naïve little girl sitting all by herself on a sandy blanket trying to figure out what she had done wrong. Only I wasn't alone anymore.
"This is my friend Maya." I tried to cover my discomfort by directing his attention to my much more socially adept companion.
With a nod and a grin, Maya strode forward, stuck her hand out assertively and gripped his tightly when he shook it.
He smiled affably but it didn't reach his eyes and he flexed his hand discreetly when she manumitted it. "Charmed."
As soon as he spoke, Maya leaned in intently, standing on her tiptoes to gaze at him eye level. He leant back without stepping backward and his face became a mask of aristocratic aversion. "What ar-"
Nose wrinkled and lips folded back, she hissed and shoved him away with a sharp palm to the sternum that was strong enough to launch her backwards as well. She skidded into a half-squat next to me and spoke in a raspy voice that I'd never heard her use before. "Get behind me. Now."
"What-?"
She swung her head to fix me with a look of pure incredulity. "Dios mio! Not now, mija! Just do it!" Her eyes flashed in a way photon physics could not explain in terms of the current lighting conditions. They were wide and wild like a hunted animal. It occurred to me then that she was probably about to do something irrevocably impetuous.
"Maya," I started calmly, reasonably, like I was trying to talk down a suicidal jumper, "Nahuel is my friend-"
Her hand snaked out and grabbed my mine as she began yanking me away from him hard enough that the ball and socket of my shoulder threatened to part ways. Nahuel watched us still-faced and silent, eyes tracking her but flicking to me every so often in an appraising manner.
"Él es un diablo." She ground out as her fingers cinched vice-like around my carpals.
"Pensé que era un dinosaurio," I tried to joke diffusively but it fell flat at her glare.
"Esto es serio." Maya snarled snapping my focus back to the conversation. All the while she kept craning her neck trying to keep both of us in her sights even though we were standing on opposite sides of her.
Nahuel had retained enough balance to remain on his feet but he had slid back at least three or four yards. Without so much as a word he straightened himself, no sign of forthcoming retaliation. Then hands folded primly behind his back and an expression of slightly patronizing patience, he had watched our exchange with muted interest, mouth quirked. He was an icon of civility juxtaposed against the rocky, wild terrain that surrounded us and Maya's decidedly rude behavior.
"¡Tienes que escucharme! ¡Tu amigo es malvado! No puedo protegerte y luchar contra él a la misma vez."
"Señorita, usted sabe que puedo hablar español, ¿verad?" He intoned sounding somewhat bored despite the quick glint of amusement in his eyes as they met mine. He cocked his head slightly to address me as though Maya wasn't standing in-between us. "Is she always like this?"
Her face darkened and she started coughing strangely. It was quickly becoming apparent that her mood would not to be so easily appeased this time, her body strained with tension so thick I could feel it roiling in the air around her like the pressure drop preceding a thunder storm.
I reached for her shoulder, "Don't -" But on contact a jolt went up her spine and straight down my arm, distracting us both momentarily.
Her head swiveled to look undividedly at me and she searched my eyes in a slightly desperate way before straightening out of the defensive crouch her posture had descended into. Leading me by my hand she began dragging me swiftly back down the pebble-strewn path we had followed there.
Her anxiety was palpable as she kept glancing back at where Nahuel stood thoughtfully observing our retreat. "Maya, what -?"
"He is dangerous, mija." She cut me off with a fierce whisper, hand clenched around mine, warily watching Nahuel making a point of examining his nails with dignified interest. "We have to get away from here, from him."
Snatching my hand from her before I could think about it, I answered as sternly as I could. "I've known him since I was only a year old. He did my family a great service and I'm not leaving here without talking to him, let alone storming off rudely with no explanation. So I'll thank you not to embarrass me any further." I finished in a low but furious voice, hoping to spook her off what I heart-stoppingly feared she might already know. Then, pantomiming a righteous huff, I turned on my heel to trot back to where the man I came all this way to see stood waiting patiently, the man I left behind my family and Jake to find.
My recently increased daily intake of hemoglobin had sharpened all my senses. As Maya reached for me from behind, I could feel the air part to make way for her hand. Simultaneously I had a crystal-clear recollection of the other night; a fact I hadn't realized I'd known until just now and how I could utilize it to my advantage.
Not even turning around I warned her off with an authoritarian air and a thick accent. "Maya Anna María Rosita Nabtama." I wielded her full moniker like a reprimand, like her mother used to. And it struck the same chord with her, the air currents ceased instantaneously and without seeing her I knew she had frozen in place. For half a heartbeat I felt penitent for employing the memory of her deceased matriarch against her but then I felt the moment of vacuum that denoted an expedient retraction of the offending appendage.
When I turned around to visually confirm that she wouldn't try to stop me again I registered a look of incredulity painted on her features that was almost comical. I met her surprised look steadily, letting her know that I wasn't trying to instigate her but likewise would not be deterred. The gravity of her shift in countenance allowed me to refrain from laughing at the gaping look she was giving me. But Nahuel had no such qualms.
A tenacious twinkle of courteously repressed amusement in his eyes managed to slip past his politely feigned indifference. Then he glanced to me with what looked curiously like approval and a touch of something I couldn't name but he kept from voicing whatever was dancing behind his gaze. Though he may not have known the implications of the exchange, the overt exhibition of power I displayed seemed to have caught his attention.
I didn't really care for how he kept assessing me like I was a particularly confounding piece of Cubist Expressionism but he had been nothing if not genteel - almost overwhelmingly so - so I did my best not to fidget under his perusal as I walked back to him.
In the interim, Maya scaled back her expression and stood at the ready like she was a member of my personal retinue awaiting the instruction of her mistress. If I had considered the possible ramifications of my impulsive name-calling beforehand, the respect now radiating off of her certainly wouldn't have numbered among my hypotheses for a potential outcome. Apparently I was the only one who thought my admonishment had been out of line.
Regardless, the effect was the same and she remained motionless as I approached the stoic Mapuche. Moving in closely and keeping my voice low I apologized on my companion's behalf. While I spoke I watched her but she was completely focused on Nahuel with a disturbingly electric intensity that he was tactfully ignoring, though the tips of his lips were curved into a slight frown. That was the only overt evidence of discomfort he displayed and the tone of his response was pleasant albeit a little too formal for me to feel at ease. But he accepted my reparation with the same courtly manner he had held himself with thus far. He had a dignified air about him, old world society mannerisms that invoked memories of Daddy. Probably because he was almost fifty years Daddy's senior.
In fact, I calculated quickly, being born in the 1850's, Nahuel would have lived his first five decades during the Victorian era. His birth can't have been more than a few years after the Brontës died, he might even have overlapped Charlotte. I'd have to ask him, if I could just get him alone. Or at least out of earshot of Maya.
"I admit that I have an ulterior motive for traveling thousands of miles to see an old acquaintance." I struck what I hoped was an facetious tone so that he'd know I was making a joke.
It got rid of his frown but the smirk it turned into wasn't as jocular as it was something that I couldn't quite decipher, something that made my pulse quicken. He didn't voice a reply, though he quirked a brow and leaned the teensiest bit forward.
Tamping down my anxiety, I forced my voice to remain even. "I was hoping you could tell me about your family." I raised both eyebrows on the last word hoping he would catch my intentional use of euphemism and reply in kind.
His smile disappeared into complete expressionlessness but he nodded complacently. "This may… take a while. Perhaps you would care to join me for a stroll?"
Casual privacy, perfect. "That'd be lovely."
"Mijita-" All it took was firm eye contact and a terse nod to cut Maya off from her protest though there was a definite vibe of irritation thrumming through her assent. "Stay where I can see you."
That was the best concession I could hope for from her given the circumstances. I inclined my head to her noncommittally before turning to my new companion and accepting the elbow he politely proffered. Arm-in-arm, he led me away from my friend and off into the burgeoning night.
Endnote: "I have slept beside the winter and the green is growing slow. I have watched you find the places hidden by the snow. I have tripped into a valley that is blue till you can see..."
miztrez, not that he'd let you forget about him either. All I hear when I write the Ness chapters is him swearing a blue streak in the background. And this one was by far the worst yet ;)
Lil, ¡Qué pasa! ¡Recepción detrás, amiga! :D –abrazos-
Elise, thank you, I hope that remains true enough for you to make it to this point ;)
Ero, I'm so glad :)
Medicat, I lol'd when I wrote that line. ...woo... :D
OAT, it's still always nice to hear, lol. :)
WaK, don't worry, I don't. Special needs maybe ;) It's funny you picked out that particular quote. I put in cuz I really felt guilty doing that to him, I know how hard it is to go through this kind of thing and it just broke my heart to write that last bit. :`(
Jenna, this was relatively soon, right? ;)
lillie, I'm glad you're enjoying it. There is a lot of plot happening offstage that will be revealed as the story calls for it. But if you have specific questions, feel free to ask. I might not answer but I do randomly give away hints in some of my responses. ;)
Kyzyl, yeah, I'm pretty evil :D -laughs villainously like Dr. Horrible-
my hubby, Jacob definitely shares your sentiments about Ness. Though I hope that you at least enjoyed this chap because he certainly didn't :)
crackfic, yeah, it takes almost 30 hours to fly to San Carlos from Washington, and even longer with layovers. So even if Jake had managed to board a plane Saturday before noon, he still wouldn't have been able to start looking for her until close to sundown on Sunday anyway. So, either way, he couldn't have prevented her from seeing Nahuel ;)
Aliat, well hopefully you'll find this then. :) Glad to have you along for the ride.
Curious, thanx :D
k8ex10, ...um..... lol. :)
De nada – It was nothing
era fácil – it was easy
Hemos llegado – We have arrived
Dios mio – My god
Él es un diablo – He is a demon
Pensé que era un dinosaurio – I thought he was a dinosaur
Esto es serio – This is serious
¡Tienes que escucharme!- you need to listen to me
¡Tu amigo es malvado!- Your friend is evil!
No puedo protegerte y luchar contra él a la misma vez - I can't protect you and fight him at the same time.
Señorita, usted sabe que puedo hablar español, ¿verad? – Miss, you know I can speak Spanish, right?