Paul POV
The crashing of waves was soothing as we packed the boat. We carried it down to the icy water, launching it then hopping in. The wind was perfect to sail north to the straight, and then find a deserted island to chill out on. The salty air whipped my face and the ropes slithered in my hands as we skimmed along the waves, sun just beginning to rise.
"What's your purpose, Paul?" Lils suddenly asked. I thought about it for a while. What was my purpose? My duty was to protect, but my purpose? That had died along with Rachel. I shrugged. "What is your passion, then?" She questioned.
"I like... uh sailing, I guess." I tried. Lils shook her head.
"You have thousands of years ahead of you now. What one thing really resonates you?" She prodded. I stared off into the golden, watery sunrise.
"What is it for you?" My curiosity overtook. Lils sighed.
"I love flying. I love being a marine so much it hurts sometimes. I think my passion is for the people, you know?" She replied, a far off look in her eyes. "You used to dream, Paul. You used to talk about something and your eyes would light up. Sometimes it was the pack, or sailing, but more often than not it was when you talked about drawing. You only showed me one once, but it was so beautiful." Her voice trailed off, as she reminisced. There was something in her expression that looked thousands of years old. "I am going back to my life in three days. I want to leave you happier than I found you. You need to know that the world is so big, and that you should take every opportunity you want to. But, I think that we are both happiest when we are with the pack, because we need them, and they need you." Her voice caught.
"Lils, they need you too. It's been hard these past few years, seeing so little of you. I was thinking that maybe you could keep the link when you go back, so that we can talk, and share stuff with you." I offered. Lils closed her eyes.
"Yeah. I think that would be nice." She acceded. A deserted island with a smattering of snowy trees became visible. "Here looks good." Lils said, as we beached the boat, folding up the sails. It was freezing, so we huddled together at the bottom of the boat.
"What really happened earlier?" I watched my breath crystallize in the air. Lils shifted a bit next to me.
"I just needed to sort my head out." She evaded my eyes.
"You're bullshitting." I remarked. She let out an angry breath.
"I am not." She retorted. "Look, I'm not perfect, I know that I should be around for the pack more, but I need to do this for me. If I take the serum, I'll have to leave the marines, which I don't want, yet when I'm away, I always feel guilty." Her confession rang in the air between us.
"Oh Lils. We want you to be happy, you know that right? And now, we have thousands of years to do whatever the fuck we want. We deserve to be happy." I stated, holding her close.
"Yeah."
So that's where we stayed for the day and subsequent night, huddled together in the bottom of a boat on a snowy island. Quiet, peaceful, content. Life had a meaning, and when a new dawn crested the horizon, we were ready to go home.
"Ugh, you stink." Lils groaned, jabbing me in the ribs. I grinned.
"Glad to see you haven't mellowed in your old age." I noted, thwacking her arm.
"Let's go home and get really drunk, a leaving party, if you like." Lils suggested, smiling wickedly.
"I'm game." I answered. We pulled the boat up the beach, having sailed back to La Push successfully. "You smell worse." I muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. She grabbed me and threw me into the freezing waves. "Fuck! It's fucking freezing!" I yelled, bobbing about in the water. Lils jumped in to join me, her only acknowledgement of the cold a slight hiss.
"Paul, you wimp." She teased, cuffing the back of my head. I splashed icy water on her face in return. Pretty soon, we were both shivering so left the water, packing up the boat and driving the short distance back to the house.
Lils POV
It was my last night before heading back to barracks. I was sitting in Sam's kitchen with most of the pack, downing drinks like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there wasn't. Either way, tomorrow would be a new beginning. The cool glass in my hand was a link back to reality as roaring laughter and raised voices surrounded me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, slipping out into the snow. My heart ached with happiness for them, as their joy seeped through me. I found my legs carrying me to the cliffs, where we had played just years ago. The moon was large and bright as I approached the edge, sitting down next to what I thought was a rock in the half-light. Footsteps sounded behind me, a familiar loping gate.
"May I?" Jake asked awkwardly. I nodded. With a sigh, he settled down next to me. "I'm gonna miss you." He said, voice a little rough. I snaked an arm around his shoulders.
"I know." I replied, grinning a bit. He thumped my arm. "Ow. Hey, I've got a really good joke. Why did the chicken cross the road?" Jake audibly rolled his eyes.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" He questioned dutifully.
"To get to the idiot's house. Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"The chicken." I burst into cackling laughter as Jake shook his head, smiling.
"I'm not gonna miss the jokes." He quipped; I laughed harder.
"Jakey, you won't have to. I'm gonna try out being on the link when I go back, to see if it makes it any better." I explained. Jake put on an expression of mock horror.
"There's no escape!" He cried dramatically. I snorted.
"Why did the chicken go to the seance?" I tried. He shrugged. "To get to the other side!" I cackled again. "Last one, for now. René Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Would you like a beer?" Descartes replies, "I think not," and promptly disappears." I howled with laughter at this one. Jake gave me a confused look. "Descartes: I think therefore I am." I explained. He snorted.
"My turn. What's red and bad for your teeth?" Jake asked. I shrugged, though I knew the answer. "A brick." He crowed triumphantly. I groaned.
"I've just remembered that I have somewhere really important to be." I huffed, sighing.
"Tough. I'm making the most of my little sister before she goes back to being a kick-ass pilot." Jake said, eyebrows raised. I didn't object.
"I can't believe that Jared isn't going out with anyone." I murmured.
"Where did that come from?" Jake laughed. "Still admiring his ass, are we?" He teased.
"Fuck off. No, we weren't right for each other like that, though the sex was amazing. I just thought that he'd have a girlfriend by now." I retorted, kicking him.
"Oh, right. Well we all thought that you would have found some sort of hunky marine to bring home, so evens." I could tell that Jake was hiding something, so I turned a bit to face him.
"What are you not telling me?" I prodded. Jake looked down.
"Jared will kill me for telling you, but he's seeing Cody Bryant. They're imprints but he is refusing to admit it." He grinned. I remembered Cody, as he had been around sometimes, one of Jared's friends from when he had been in high school.
"I never would've guessed. Good for him." I smiled.
"So, about this hunky marine..." Jake teased. My mind flashed to the Volturi kings, who were- inexplicably- my mates. Did they even remember? It had only been eleven years, but I would have to face up to the truth at some point. "Earth to Lils!" Jake called, snapping his fingers. "Daydreaming about them?" I growled in response.
"I haven't been with anyone since Jared." I told him. He held his hands up in surrender. "Though, I could bring one home if you and Nessie felt like being a bit creative." I said, deadpan. It was Jake's turn to growl. "Easy tiger." I teased, stifling a yawn. Jake shot me a look.
"Come on, let's go back. You need to go to bed." He stood, offering me a hand which I ignored.
"Okay, grandpa." I huffed, flipping him off. I stood, muscles protesting and walked back home.
"See you in the morning." Jake promised, before disappearing into the woods.
I let myself in, rushing to my room. As a vampire I couldn't sleep, though I figured that I could in this form, if I wanted. Dawn was only an hour away, so I packed my bags, making sure everything was perfect. If I left at six, I would be back in time to get changed, so I threw on a comfy set of civvies, watching as the sun rose.
It was odd, I mused, looking at my hands, that I could will myself to bleed like a human and it would happen. A tendril of guilt wrapped itself around my heart; I knew that the pack deserved the truth, but I reasoned that there wasn't enough time to tell them now. Excuses, I thought bitterly. 05:50 ticked around. Cock-a-doodle-doo! I yelled down the link, loud enough to wake everyone up. Fuck you. Jake groaned in response. I rolled my eyes, picked up my bags and headed downstairs, hearing Jared's footsteps following. Walking to my jeep barefoot in the snow, I saw that someone had been already, large footprints leading up to it. I had left it unlocked, so swung my bags into the boot with ease, almost missing Jasper's head peeking out from the back seat.
"Hello blondie." I drawled. He snorted in response.
"Hey, Lieutenant Lahote." He replied, eyes dancing.
"Thanks for coming. I'll drop you back, once I've said goodbye." I subtly told him to stay in the car. Slamming the door, I came face to face with Jared, who looked a bit sheepish.
"Um, Lils, there's something I need to tell you. I'mgoingoutwithCodyBryant." He gabbled. I grinned.
"Good for you. He was always pretty cool. Let me know how it goes, yeah? It'll be easy now I'm on the link." I replied, patting him on the back.
"I guess I'll say goodbye now." Jared's face was a little forlorn.
"Yeah, but not for long. I'll be in contact as much as possible now and I should get some leave when I come back from Belize." I promised, giving him a tight hug. "Good luck with the serum, and I will come back for the war. You have my word." Jared nodded tightly.
"Enjoy Belize." He offered. Leah and Seth appeared, looking a little sheepish.
"Hey, you promise not to die, dickhead?" Leah asked.
"I'll try Clearsnotter." I teased.
"Oi!" Seth's face was indignant.
"Good luck. I'll be in touch, and treating you to my excellent repertoire of jokes." I threatened. Leah put her head in her hands.
"Jesus, that sounds bad." Seth taunted. I clapped him on the back, then pulled them both into a hug.
"Enjoy." I grinned. They stepped back to join Jared. I had already said goodbye to Collin and Quil, but I saw them dart out of the forest, shift, salute and run off again. I shook my head. Brady stumbled over, looking like the dead. "BoBo, hangover?" I called; he winced, whether at my volume or the nickname I was not sure.
"Bye then, Lilo." He managed to smile. "Have a fucking good time flying helicopters."
"Have a fucking good time doing whatever the fuck you want." I answered, hugging him and turning to Embry.
"Bye." He said tersely. I knew that goodbyes weren't his thing, but gave him a hug anyway.
"Knock knock." I started.
"Who's there?" He replied, with well practiced boredom.
"Control freak."
"Control-"
"This is the bit where you're meant to say control freak who." I burst into gleeful laughter, and he snorted.
"You wanker." He patted my arm affectionately, before going to stand in my growing leaving committee.
"Lils." It was Sam, looking tired.
"Look, I am not going to say goodbye like I'm never going to see you again. Chances are, I will. If you find the monster who butchered the innocents, make sure they suffer. Good luck with that, and good fucking luck with the serum. I can barely imagine what it will be like to see you all looking... young." I teased. He growled half-heartedly.
"We'll see you soon and keep you posted. Enjoy yourself." Sam replied, giving me a massive hug. Paul cleared his throat lightly behind us.
"Looks like someone taught you tact." I noted with a raised eyebrow, as Sam went to join the others. I opened my mouth to say more, but Paul beat me to it.
"Don't. I'll see you on the other fucking side." He vowed. I nodded, wrapping my arms around him.
"See you on the other fucking side, with an interlude for my jokes." I replied. I gazed at them all, feeling a little piece of my heart stay with them. I jumped into the jeep, starting it with practiced ease.
A chorus of goodbyes swept through the air as I waved, and sped off. What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question? I asked down the link to a chorus of moans. I turned my attention to Jasper.
"Why are you really here? I have already said my goodbyes to you." I looked at him suspiciously in the rear-view mirror.
"Edward saw what Caius did." Jasper replied simply, expecting me to explain.
"Entitled bastard." I spat.
"I can understand why you didn't tell anybody, but I just had to check if you were okay." He said, skirting around the metaphoric elephant. "Edward couldn't see the memory, in your mind." He added.
"I'm good at blocking things out. Don't tell my pack." I put emphasis on the word 'things', subtly indicating that perhaps I was more immune to Edward's power than they had assumed. Jasper nodded his understanding.
"Bye then." He sounded put-out.
"Promise me that you will make sure they come to no harm." I locked eyes with him as I pulled up in a lay-by.
"I promise."
"Good. If you break it, I will skin you myself." I vowed. Jasper huffed a laugh.
"Okay. Goodbye." He started getting out of the jeep.
"Goodbye, for now, dickhead." I corrected, smiling.
"Goodbye for now, dickhead." Jasper parroted before sprinting off into the forest. I sighed, fixing my eyes on the road and setting off once more.