Chapter 4: Reunion

Despite the sleepless night, I was wide awake as we hiked out to the rock formation to meet the pack and the Cullens. It was a beautiful summer morning. The morning sunlight filtering through the canopy of trees was as clear as I had ever seen it, filling the forest around us with a warm golden glow.

As we stepped out onto the field, a terrible sense of déjà vu flooded through me. I hadn't been back to this spot in more than ten years, but every rock, every tree, every thing about this place was seared into my memory. And somehow, it all looked just the same. It was as if time had stood still here and the thought alone was enough to make me shiver.

The pack had already arrived and Sam got up to greet us. Sam had mellowed over the last decade – grown from a young boy into a stalwart family man with three daughters and a baby on the way. He still struck an imposing figure, but his face was a little more weathered and his voice was a little softer-spoken. Unlike the others who were still happily entrenched in their youth, Sam had firmly moved into the realm of adulthood and parenthood.

Most of the other boys had left La Push in recent years. Sam only required that they stay within a few hundred mile radius so that they could return on short notice. And they all returned faithfully for training a few times a year. Seth was attending graduate school in California, Embry had moved out to Seattle to work as a programmer, Jared was living down near Portland working as a sales guy, and Paul was a high school gym teacher a few hours south along the coast. Only Sam, Quil, and Jacob remained behind in La Push. Quil had taken over at his dad's auto shop, Sam worked with Billy as a tribal elder, and Jake returned to Forks to work for the Washington State Department of Natural Resource to do conservation work and testing out in the Olympic Peninsula.

But luckily – or perhaps unluckily - because of our wedding, everyone had returned to La Push for the weekend. So it was the full pack that gathered that morning.

"This is weird," Seth said finally, breaking the collective silence.

"Nah, it's just early. I need my coffee." Paul yawned loudly as he stretched himself out in the warm sun. Jared, who was sitting next to him, elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! What was that for?"

Jared frowned. "This is a serious situation. You shouldn't be kidding around."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Paul replied with a shrug. "But it doesn't change my point. I need my coffee if you want me to function at this hour. Especially if you want me to kick some vampire butt."

"There will be no kicking of anyone's butt," Sam said with his steady tone. "This Aro person is here to see Bella. And we are just here to serve as witnesses."

"You mean, to serve as muscle," Quil interjected with a cheeky grin and an exaggerated wink in my direction. "To make sure he doesn't get any ideas."

He and Paul high-fived each other. Leah caught my eye and flashed a quick grin from where she was sitting a little apart from the rest of the pack. She looked peaceful and well-rested, despite everything that was happening. I wondered how she got here – if she drove or if she had phased and run. I knew Leah hated to phase and did it as little as possible. And she was the only one that Sam let get away with skipping out on pack training. Although their relationship had improved through the years, there was still an underlying awkwardness that couldn't be denied. I often privately wondered if the reason why Leah hadn't settled down with anyone else was because she still had feelings for Sam, but I was smart enough to never bring it up to her.

"We totally outnumber them. That's for sure," Jared said. "There's twelve of us plus the six Cullens – so it'll be eighteen to five. There's no way they'll try anything."

"Just five of the Cullens," Sam corrected him. "Edward won't be there."

The pack seemed surprised by this. They all glanced over at Jake whose face remained expression-less. Only Leah looked right at me with an arched eyebrow and a puzzled glance.

"I'm still debating as to whether or not we want to make our presence know," Sam said with a frown. "The last time, the Cullens specifically told us to leave so the Volturi wouldn't know about us. They don't seem to be enamored of our type. I'd rather not have them know about our existence."

"We're not scared of five puny European leeches!" Paul insisted. "Bring it on!"

"Don't be an idiot," Embry sighed. "What's to stop them from coming back in the future with others? I think we should stay hidden and only show ourselves if absolutely necessary."

Everyone seemed to start talking at once, as they argued over what to do. It went on for a few minutes before Jacob raised his hand to speak. "We don't have a choice. The situation must be critical if Carlisle is asking us to stand with him now. We can't let them down now."

No one spoke for a few moments as they processed Jake's logic. Suddenly, the mood became somber. Even Sam seemed lost in thought and worry.

Finally, Embry spoke. "Shouldn't we do some drills or something while we wait? Just in case? I mean, it's been a while."

"Lightyears ahead of you, man!" Quil chortled. "Some of the guys went for a run this morning. It was great!"

"Well, maybe we can do some exercises before the Cullens arrive," Sam acknowledged. "It couldn't hurt. And once they get here-"

"-Too late," Jared interrupted as he squinted into the distance. He had eyes like binoculars.

The entire pack swiveled their head to the south side of the field where the rock formations met the rising banks of the river. For a long time, it seemed to me that we were staring at nothing, when suddenly, four figures appeared at the opposite side of the field.

Alice was in front, flanked by Jasper and Emmett. Rosalie hung back. They stood there for a moment, as if they were unsure of themselves, before they walked across the field slowly.

There was a part of me that was convinced that they wouldn't show up. That last night had been some crazy hallucination on my part. But seeing them all here, glittering under the bright rays of the morning sun as they walked towards us, made the moment very real.

As they crossed over into the shady area of the field, I could actually see them clearly for the first time. And just like Alice, they hadn't changed a bit. It was jarring to see. I could see that the rest of the pack was just as shocked as I was to witness first-hand the implications of their immortality.

The two groups stood there for a few long moments, just taking each other in and examining the changes – or the lack of change – that had ensued in the past decade.

"It's a reunion!" Seth cut through the silence finally with a hearty laugh as he reached out to hug Alice.

Alice's eyes were wide with surprise for a moment, before they lit up at the friendly welcome. She chuckled as she returned the embrace. I had forgotten that the two of them had bonded after the last fight. Alice had taken Seth – who had been one of the youngest fighters at the time – under her wing during the preparation for the fight with Victoria and the newborns.

Sam followed suit, shaking hands with all of them. "It's good to see you. I'm just sorry that it's under these circumstances."

"Not as sorry as us, believe me," Jasper said as he returned the handshake and turned towards me and Jacob. "Hello, Bella. You're looking good."

I laughed as I could feel his mood-enhancing power reaching the edges of my mind. "You don't need to make me happy to see you, Jasper! I already am!"

He chuckled as we hugged briefly. But I could feel him holding himself tightly in check until we released contact. Even after all these years, abstaining from human blood was still a challenge for him.

"Hey, slugger!" Emmett greeted me with a grin as he reached out and fist-bumped me hard.

"Owww," I winced as I shook out my hand. "Don't forget I'm still a puny human."

"That was your choice," he chuckled before he turned to greet Jake with an equally hearty handshake.

"Hi Bella."

I turned to see Rosalie, who had been hanging back, standing behind me. As always, her perfect golden beauty was stunning. She was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Rosalie reached her hand out to shake mine and I marveled at how cool it was to the touch. She didn't say anything else, but I could feel her eyes examining me, taking in all the changes that had happened in the last decade. I felt self-conscious as I thought about the creases that sometimes appeared now between my eyebrows when I frowned or the laugh lines that didn't always go away. But then I remembered the content of our last conversation – when Rosalie had confessed her sadness at her never-changing life. When I looked up at her, I thought I detected a hint of sorrow before her face returned to its usual icy impenetrable mask.

"So what's the plan, here?" Sam asked after all the greetings had been made. "Are we just waiting or should we be strategizing for a battle?"

"Aro won't fight us this time," Jasper said confidently. "He's not a fighter himself and he hasn't brought his forces with him."

"But I wouldn't put it past him to want to fight," Alice interrupted with an impatient sigh. "He's not going to just leave peacefully after seeing Bella."

"What do you think he wants with Bella?" Jacob asked.

Alice was silent for a moment. "Aro doesn't like us. He never has. He doesn't trust our family. I think he want to use Bella as an excuse to do us harm."

"Come on, babe," Jasper said softly as he put his hand on her shoulder. "We've talked about this. That just doesn't make sense. It would be stupid for him to try anything, especially with the pack here. He's not going to do anything."

"Not now, maybe," Alice admitted. "But what's to stop him from coming back with the full Volturi force to punish us for having broken the rules?! And the punish them for supporting us?"

Sam was thoughtful for a moment. "I had been debating whether or not the pack should show ourselves to these Volturi. You did tell us last time that they don't honor truces with werewolves."

"No," Jasper admitted. "They don't. Caius, Aro's brother, in particular, is scared of werewolves. He was almost killed by one." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul and Quil snickering.

"But I think we want to show our strength in numbers," Alice added. "That's why Carlisle wanted you to be there."

Sam nodded. "There is strength in numbers. And it seems that our fates are intertwined no matter what, so we may as well take it head-on today if necessary."

Emmett nodded enthusiastically. "If a fight is what they want, we can give them a fight."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Please. Aro doesn't want a fight. My bet is that he's here to negotiate."

"Negotiate?" I was surprised. Rosalie rarely spoke up in these strategy sessions.

"The man is a strategist and not a fighter. He's coming out here because he wants something. And he thinks that he can use Bella's existence to trade for it," she explained. "That's my guess anyways."

"Well we won't have to wait long," Alice said suddenly, her eyes taking on a glassy far off look. "Their plane landed early. They'll be here sooner than planned."

Jake and Sam looked at each other for a long hard moment, before they finally nodded in agreement.

"We better spend some time discussing strategy then," Sam said finally. His voice sounded tired but fir,. He signaled to Jasper who nodded and walked up to join him and Jacob. "Luckily, we know this field well."

"That's for sure," Emmett laughed as he put his arms around Paul and Quil's shoulders. "You guys ready to have some fun?"

"As long as we get to kick some vampire *ss," Paul retorted with a smirk.

And with that, the time for talking was over.

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay – my power was out for over a week thanks to Sandy - but it's back on finally!

I promise to update every Sunday for the rest of this month to finish out this vignette! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!