Worlds Apart

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the lovely reviews. I really appreciate it. Nikki :)

Part Twenty Nine-Katie's Story

Jacob and Bella finally tracked down a member of staff and alerted them about Katie. The young man was rather flustered at the news and seemed a bit dazed about having to deal with such an emergency. In the end Bella just asked him to show her to his manager. He nodded quickly and led them to a small innocuous looking building near the center of the park. Once inside Jacob explained to the more experienced manager how they had found Katie alone by the water fountain. The manager looked extremely relieved, a call out had just come in from the main headquarters about the missing girl.

"Would you all please just make yourselves comfortable while I radio through and let everyone know she is safe and well. We will get her grandparents escorted down here immediately." The manager disappeared into his office, leaving them in the neat little reception area.

Katie sat between Jacob and Bella, swinging her legs back and forth as she hummed. She didn't seem worried now that her grandparents were on their way. She glanced up at Jacob and smiled. "I tell Nanna and Pappa I rescued by Prince Jack."

Jacob smiled back at her and ruffled her hair. "Bella helped."

Katie whipped her head round and studied Bella thoughtfully. "Are you princess? You don't look like one." She frowned. "Where's your pink dress?"

Bella laughed softly. "No I'm not a princess, just plain old Bella."

"No you're my beautiful Bella." Jacob interjected.

Katie stuffed her thumb in her mouth again as she continued to frown. "Prince Jack marry princess."

Jacob grinned at Bella's bemused expression. He leaned down and whispered to Katie. "She is a princess in disguise."

Katie's little face lit up at this piece of news. She took her thumb out of her mouth and looked at Bella in wonder. "You really princess?"

Bella gave Jacob a warning glance before she opened her mouth to tell Katie that she was no such thing. But before she could get the words out, the door to the small building was opened, and an anxious looking elderly gentleman walked in pushing a wheelchair with an equally panicked older lady sitting in it. Their eyes roamed restlessly until they settled on Katie.

"Oh Katie, sweetheart." The lady in the wheelchair held out her arms as Katie squealed with excitement and launched herself into her lap.

"Nanna." She cried out as she cuddled her.

"Oh, Katie you had us so scared." Katie's grandfather reached out and petted her long, blonde hair. "You should never go off like that, remember you need to stay close to Nanna's chair when we look around."

Katie looked at him sadly. "Sorry Pappa I just wanted to see water."

"I know." He smiled at her kindly. "But we're not as fast as you little one."

Katie's grandmother hugged her close as she gazed over at Jacob and Bella. "Are you the ones that found her?"

They both nodded. Katie's grandmother smiled at them as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you. Katie is all we have left, I have never been so scared. We are in your debt."

"It's no problem." Jacob said quickly. "We were in the right place at the right time. Katie was fine honestly. She is a cute little girl."

"Yeah." Bella agreed. "She kept us entertained."

"That's Katie." Her grandmother replied fondly. "I'm Megan by the way and this is my husband Joseph."

"Nice to meet you both." Bella said politely. "I'm Bella and this is Jake."

Katie raised her head and bounced happily on her grandmother's lap. "He prince Jack."

Joseph laughed. "Prince Jack eh? I thought he looked like royalty." He held out his hand for Jacob to shake.

Bella joined in the laughter. She patted Jacob's taut stomach. "Yeah he is definitely a prince."

"And Bella is a princess in disguise." Katie interjected excitedly.

Megan stroked her granddaughter's hair away from her forehead. "You have a wonderful imagination."

"It's true." Katie pouted.

Megan hugged her again. "Thank you." She said again.

"No worries." Jacob put his arm around Bella's shoulder as he got ready to leave. "It was nice meeting you all. Take care. Bye Katie."

Bella slipped her arm around his waist. "Yeah it was lovely to meet you. Bye, bye Katie." She waved at the little girl.

Katie's face became panicked as she watched them turn away from her. She slipped off of her grandmother's lap and ran over to them, flinging her thin arms around Jacob's leg and hanging on. "Prince can't go." She wailed.

Jacob stopped moving. He carefully disentangled Katie's arms from around his leg and knelt down in front of her. "I have to go now little one. You have your Nanna and Pappa now." He said gently.

"I don't want you to go." Katie began to cry.

Megan and Joseph looked sadly at their granddaughter. "We're sorry about this. Can we ask you a favor?" Joseph asked.

"Of course." Jacob got up and took Katie's hand leading her back over to Megan.

"Would you mind joining us for lunch? Then we could thank you properly and explain why Katie is so attached to you already." Joseph continued.

Jacob glanced over at Bella, she gave him a slight nod indicating for him to agree. He then turned his attention back to the worried looking grandparents. "We'd love to."

Megan and Joseph smiled in relief.


Katie beamed at them all as she spooned her ice cream dessert into her mouth. While Megan chattered to her granddaughter to distract her, Joseph discreetly passed Jacob and Bella some photos that he had in his wallet. They were of Katie, her parents and her older brother. As soon as they got a good look at Katie's brother they could see the resemblance to Jacob.

"His name was Jack. They were taken just under a year ago. Jack had just turned eighteen. Benjamin, that's Katie's dad, is of Native American descent. My daughter Sophia met him at college and he moved down this way so he could be with her and raise a family. They had Jack quite early, but Sophia had a difficult birth and she was told she was unlikely to ever carry another child. We all doted on Jack, he grew into a fine young man." Joseph wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before continuing. "Katie arrived years later totally unexpectedly. Ben and Sophie were over the moon, we all were, and Jack was excited to have a sibling after being an only child for so long. The three of them and my wife were out Christmas shopping. They were on their way back when a drunk driver ploughed into the side of their car. My wife was the only survivor."

Bella and Jacob were stunned by this sad story. Joseph had covered his eyes with his hands, obviously trying to hide his grief. Bella put a hand on his arm in comfort. "I am so sorry." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"Me too." Jacob echoed her. "They sound like a wonderful family. I understand how you feel."

Bella glanced at Jacob and put a hand on his face too. She could see that he was deeply upset. It was too close to his own circumstances. Joseph pulled his hands away from his face and looked at Jacob curiously. "What do you mean you understand?"

Jacob hung his head, he was too choked up with emotion to answer. Bella caressed his face gently with her fingers as she answered for him. "Jake's mother was killed by a drunk driver when he was ten years old. His dad, Billy, is in a wheelchair too, due to illness."

Joseph reached out and put a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "I think fate brought us all together today. I am sorry for your loss."

Jacob raised his head and locked eyes with Joseph. "I think you're right." He said huskily.


"Over there Prince Jack." Katie yelled out, bouncing up and down on his shoulders. "Over there."

After lunch Jacob and Bella had decided to stay with Katie and her grandparents to tour the park. Megan tired easily and, having a lively three year old to look after, was exhausting. Joseph was finding it hard looking after his wife's needs and keeping a close eye on Katie. They had brought her to Disney World as it was a holiday that had already been pre-booked by her parents before they died. After everything that Katie had been through they didn't want to let her down as she was looking forward to going.

When they learned this Jacob and Bella had offered to travel around with them so that Katie could go on any rides she wanted while Joseph and Megan had a rest. They spent most of the day touring around the Magic Kingdom. Katie was in her element as she was surrounded by her favorite Disney characters, it was like being in a dream. The one ride she was most longing to try was the one featuring Winne the Pooh, he was her most favorite storybook character and she had been longing to lose herself in his world. Jacob and Bella proudly stood by her as she had her photo taken with them and a man dressed up as the yellow bear.

It was six o'clock when they had to call a halt to the fun. They needed to get back to Jackson's store and collect their stuff. Katie's face fell again when she learned they were really leaving this time. She clung to Jacob's legs and refused to let go. "Don't go Prince Jack, don't go."

Megan and Joseph became distressed at seeing her so upset. Jacob gently picked Katie up and carried her over to Joseph. She began to cry in earnest as he handed her over. "Don't go." She begged again.

"Come on little one, Jake and Bella have to go now." Joseph tried to calm her down but she still reached out for Jake. In her mind she had found her brother again.

Bella came up beside Jake and took his hand. "Perhaps we can all meet up again tomorrow. You said you were here for another week, so if you want, we would love to tour the park again like we did today." She offered.

Jacob held her hand tightly as he looked down at her with love in his eyes. "Yeah we would love to do that." He agreed.

Joseph nodded. "Thank you. We really appreciate this. Katie did you hear that?"

Katie rubbed at her reddened eyes. "You come back?" She whispered.

"Yeah, we'll come back." Jacob ruffled her hair and Katie smiled at him.

Megan held out her arms and Joseph placed Katie in her lap. "Thank you both so much." She said gratefully as she cuddled her granddaughter.

"Here's my cell number." Bella wrote it down on a scrap bit of paper and passed it to Joseph. "Ring us later and let us know when and where you want to meet up tomorrow."

Joseph took it gratefully. He reached out and hugged Bella before holding out his hand to Jacob, who eagerly shook it. "Thank you both." He said again.

Bella smiled as she bent down and hugged Megan and then Katie. Jacob did the same, ruffling the little girl's hair as he said his goodbyes. "See you all tomorrow."

"Bye Prince Jack." Katie whispered tiredly as she stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"Bye little one." Jacob put his arm around Bella again as they said their final goodbyes.

A/N-thanks for reading!