A/N Lenaii, this is something we talked over and I think you will find it interesting. There is a surprise at the end of the chapter. A really wild… surprise. No peeking. ;D

As always, enjoy. : )

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Accidental Discoveries

Leah finally wandered out from the bedroom into the living area, looking like she'd been sleeping under a garbage bin. Her hair went every direction.

"My head," she moaned, holding at the forehead. "Oh fudge," she covered over her eyes. "The sun – I'm melting."

Esme and I laughed at her, while sitting on the couches. We had been playing some cards. Alice was out picking up what she told us Leah would need when she woke up.

I stood and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Like my head was run over by one of those tar rolling trucks. Man… you sparkle." She grinned, looking over me in my white Capri's and blouse. I didn't have my jacket, sunglasses or hat to cover myself and the sun was brighter this high up from the floor to ceiling windows.

"I'm a sparkling vampire," I unenthusiastically announced.

She looked over to Esme who told her, "good afternoon, Leah."

"Afternoon?" She looked out the windows, and then back down to Esme. "Whoa. Hey you sparkle too. Do you all like have contests to see who sparkles the most?"

"Hadn't thought of that," Esme actually looked as though she was considering it.

Leah sat down on the couch, next to Esme. She looked up at me and then back down at Esme. Esme hugged around her shoulders, "Did you get enough sleep?"

"I think so." Leah giggled, "Wow, I've never seen you guys in the sun. No wonder Bella was so freaked out about the sparkling."

I told her, "And you change into a wolf – or will change into a wolf some day."

"At least my fur doesn't sparkle. That's got to be a real emasculating thing for the guys." She laughed boisterously. "Sparkling Emmett is like an oxymoron."

Alice walked in the doors, carrying a small brown bag with a lunch or something in it. "Oh, that's a good one. I'm going to tell Jasper what you said. He'll get a kick out of it."

"Hey Alice," Leah said. "Come here, I want to see who sparkles the most."

"Neat." Alice dropped off the bag on the table and then skipped over to the windows, pulling off her coat. "I think Rose actually does, but I've always kind of wondered. It'll be nice getting an objective party's input."

I couldn't believe that was something Alice always wondered about. She'd never said anything.

Esme got up from her seat and walked to the windows. "Oh my… I'm not quite the same as you Alice. Come here, Rose."

"I can't believe the three of you," I said, and held Leah's arm. "You sure you're not still drunk?"

"No – just making observations – vampy observations."

We all laughed. Leah could be so funny.

"Oh all… right." I walked to the window.

The three of us stood there in all our sparkling glory.

Leah looked us all up and down. "Wow, Rose really does sparkle a certain way."

"It's the blonde hair," Alice stated.

"I agree," Esme added, "I think she has the lighter skin and blonde hair and it adds to it."

"Wow, who'd have known. We could do like a vamp study on this stuff. Does that mean Carlisle and Jasper are more sparkly than Emmett and Edward?" Leah snickered.

"Or wait – we find an albino vampire," I said sarcastically. "Come on. Why don't you jump in the shower Leah and get ready and we'll get you something to eat and then go sightseeing."

"Okay, that'll be fun."

"Better than playing the sparkle game."

They all laughed again, as Leah was about to leave to take a shower. Alice stopped her, "Oh wait, I got something for your hangover."

"Thanks."

Alice picked up the brown bag. "This is some drink Timothy had them make for you. I think its tomato juice and lemon. It should help out a bit. I also have some Tylenol and there's a pitcher of water in the bedroom.

"Okay, thanks," Leah told her again and took out the drink.

She drank down the contents, took a shower, and then we were off to see Seattle. We headed toward the most popular spot, the Space Needle. We'd ride the elevator to the top and have a late lunch there.

Walking along the sidewalks on a Saturday was busy with tourists. They were heading down to the waterfront. Thankfully, it was a cloudy, overcast day. We all wore coats and jeans, and Alice and I wore sporty little caps, and Esme had a scarf and sunglasses. Leah also wore jeans, but only a light coat and nothing on her head. She didn't have to hide in the day.

Leah asked, "Can we go to the water first? We can go to the Space Needle for dinner."

"Sure, that could work," Esme said.

"They have some wonderful little shops there," Alice said and I agreed. Shopping was something we could all agree on.

A hot dog vendor was on the corner just before another Starbucks. Leah bought a small latte and then a hot dog with chili and cheese.

We sat on a bench so she could eat.

Leah said, "It must seem weird me eating and you guys just standing around."

"We could jog in place," Alice said, jumping up and down. "Or dance." She spun in a pirouette and a man dropped a dollar bill into her hand.

We all burst out laughing.

"Now we know what to do if we run out of money," I said.

Again we laughed. Leah finished up her hot dog and we were all laughing about such silly things. We walked to the water front, and there were so many boats at this part of Puget Sound – much more than the harbor in Port Angeles. We could see Whidbey Island in the distance and we somehow decided to ride a ferry boat to the island, heading down Alaskan Way and in that direction.

Walking along the busy streets beside the docks Leah suddenly spun to look at something. "Did you all see that?"

"See what?" I asked.

"Between those two buildings."

We collectively looked to one another, worried that Leah might be changing or something was going to go wrong.

"No really," she said, "I sense something over there. It's like."

She took off on us, running across the plank walkway and in between a warehouse and a restaurant.

"Oh shoot," I ran and the others followed, catching up to Leah who had come out on a busy street.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," Leah said, and then suddenly ran into the street.

All of us screamed.

A bus chugged past, in between where she ran and us. Was she under the bus? What happened? When did Leah get so fast?

Once enough cars passed we could see Leah on the other side of the street.

She was on her haunches, bent over and on the sidewalk. People were gathered around her.

"Oh no," I breathed, and ran across the street with Alice and Esme beside me. I yelled, "Leah!" I thought she was injured.

Once we made it over we could see Leah holding a small girl in her arms, covering over her protectively.

"What are you doing?" I asked Leah tremulously, "Everything… okay?"

The group of onlookers was all talking and one told me, "She just saved that little girl."

Another said, excited, admiring Leah, "That bus was about to hit her and this woman just ran like the Flash and pulled her out of the way. It was awesome!"

Great, comic book literate types were gathered around. I wondered what would be in the newspaper tomorrow. Someone probably took video. At least Leah didn't change into a wolf. Why did every trip into a major city have to have something like this happen?

Leah looked up at me and then Esme and Alice. "I don't know why, but I knew she needed me to save her right now."

We looked over the little waif. She was small, like Alice, and had light red hair, strawberry blonde, and her face looked dirty, surrounding large hazel eyes that leaned toward golden/green. She wore some jeans and a t-shirt that looked in just as ill of shape as the rest of her.

She allowed Leah to just hold her.

"We should probably find her parents," Esme said.

Alice told the onlookers, "I'm sure there is nothing more to see."

They listened to her voice, and began to disburse.

Leah held the little girl and the little girl watched Leah closely. She gazed up into Leah's eyes, I'm guessing because she was thankful she saved her. Leah smiled down into her eyes.

"She reminds me of someone," Alice said. "I just don't know why."

Esme asked the little girl "Is your mommy around?"

She finally pulled away from Leah's gaze and looked up at Esme. She shook her head no.

"How old are you?" Esme asked.

The girl looked frightened, looking to Leah and then back to Esme, and then quietly answered, "Nine."

"Where do you live?" Alice asked, "We could take you home."

The little girl wiggled out of Leah's arms for the first time and looked scared. She took off.

"I think I messed up," Alice said.

"We have to find her," Leah said, "We have to find her."

"Leah, she's probably going back to her family," I told her.

Leah had the oddest look on her face. It was such a lost look. "We need to find her – that's all I know. Something is all wrong with her – or me – or her family. She doesn't belong with them."

"What do you mean?" I was feeling more uneasy with each moment of this strange set of events.

"I don't know, but…" Leah's large eyes looked into mine. She looked so desperate. "You're going to think I'm weird – but… I think I imprinted on that little girl – and she imprinted on me."

I'm pretty sure we each let out a light gasp simultaneously.

A/N That was an interesting surprise. Don't worry – there's more – there's always more than what it seems. I hope you all liked.

Again thank you all for reading and I look forward to the reviews. I'm interested in what you think. : )