Slightly AU after Eclipse.

Seven years after the 'almost' fight with Aro and the Volturi.

Ness is now 'fully grown' and Aro wants to see what has become of her. Having spent the last 7 years in Volterra discussing plans to bring down the Cullen's and their 'guard dogs,' or recruit as many of them as possible, to control, and use them for Aro's own sinister plans.

Paul did not imprint on Rachel. Jacob did imprint on Nessie but did not become a romantic imprint, Quil's imprint is also not romantic in any way and never will be. Embry, Leah, Paul, and Seth do not have imprints.

Chapter 1

Ness rolls her eyes at her mother and father, Ugh this is stupid.

Edward looks at his daughter and narrows his eyes, "Renesmee, you know better than that." Bella looks over at him wondering what silent thought he'd gotten from their now teenage daughter. "It's nothing, she's just annoyed with us and our rules."

"Yes, because every rule you've had for me in the past I have outgrown. I'm not a child anymore Dad, you can't just assume that I'm going to follow you and mom around forever." Nessie says putting her hand on her hip. She was right in a sense, that she didn't look like a child anymore, her body had grown rapidly and then stopped aging about 4 months ago when in human years she turned 7.

"Just because you -look- like an adult does not mean you -are- an adult Renesmee. You can't just go off on your own at 7 years old." Bella tries and fails to argue. Both her and Edward know she is more than mature enough to pass for 18, 21 if Ness really wanted to push it, but they didn't want to admit that about their only child.

"Your mother is right, Renesmee, you're not old enough to be out on your own," Edward says backing up his wife as he usually did when it came to their daughter.

"I just want to go back to Forks to visit Grandpa, what's so hard about that? Maybe take some college classes there or a semester or two. I miss Grandpa Charlie and Sue, and Seth… and the rest of the pack." Ness quickly adds. The wolves in the next room glance at one another. Jake shrugs, he knows how it sounds but he knows that Ness likes Seth. She's had a crush on him for a while now.

Ness's parents weren't exactly excited about how much she talked to Seth Clearwater or about him. They both assumed that because of Jacob's imprint that they would eventually date one another but that hadn't been the case. Jacob, Leah, Embry, and even Paul had all followed the Cullens to Anchorage immediately when they left Forks. Sam, Jared, Seth, Quil, Brady, Collin, and the new wolves that had phased after the Volturi visit stayed behind. Then to Vancouver two years ago when people started to question Carlilse's age at the hospital, not to mention how he had to explain Nessie.

"This is about you visiting Charlie, Renesmee, this is about you thinking that you know how to be on your own. That you know how to deal with humans. You haven't had enough time to learn." Bella tries to explain to Ness, failing in the attempt.

"Oh yeah because you had so much more experience when you met dad right mom! How can you be so hypocritical? You ran off because vamps were after you and married dad without even thinking about anyone but yourself. Grampa only knows about us and isn't devastated because Jake decided to help out. If it wasn't for him Grandpa Charlie would have died of a broken heart!" Ness raises her voice, her temper flaring. She glares at both her parents and turns to walk off back to her room. She passes the wolves sitting in the living room on her wait to the stairs. They all do their best to avoid her and her parents.

"Renesmee you do not get to walk off like that," Edward speaks firmly as he and Bella both follow their daughter up the stairs.

Leah raises a brow at them from her seat on the sofa beside Paul. Of course, you do know she's right. Bella was 17 when she ran off to Phoenix and Italy. And she was 18 when you two got hitched and knocked up. Her eyes never leave the computer screen, but she can't help but smirk when she hears Edward's voice.

"Leah," Edward warns as he makes it to the top of the stairs.

Leah turns and looks up at him with a raised brow, "But am I wrong though?" She goes back to looking at her computer, not seeing how Edward stops walking just before the top of the stairs. Bella, who had continued to follow Ness to her room and fails at getting Ness to open her door, comes back to find Edward a few moments later still standing on the stairs.

"Edward?" Bella asks, putting a hand on his shoulder as she glances over him at the wolves below.

"I think we need to talk in private, my love," Edward says, turning to Bella. She gives Edward a confused look then follows him down the stairs to the front door. Edward turns back to the wolves, "We'll return shortly, don't let her leave."

Jake nods knowing it's not about letting Ness stay or go but about making sure she's safe. Embry and Paul shake their heads and continue playing with the XBOX while Jake goes back to reading his book. Leah rolls her eyes because she knows they aren't changing their minds but neither is Ness.

Leah lets out a huff, closes her laptop, and reaches out to set it on the coffee table. She knows Jake cares about Ness but he is also clueless when it comes to what Ness wants lately. She doesn't confide in him as much as she used to because 'he is a guy and doesn't get it.' Leah stands up and walks upstairs to Ness's room.

Leah lifts her hand and knocks on the door. A grumbled 'go away' sounds from the other side and she laughs. "It's just me, Kiddo." She hears the soft thud of Ness's feet hitting the floor and padding softly across the carpet. The lock clicks and she takes that as an invitation and she opens the door.

"Okay, we are done with all the moppy tweeny crap. What's your problem?" Leah shuts the door behind her and walks over to sit with Ness on her bed.

"It's them not me. Why can't I just go to Forks by myself? Why do they always have to be so close? I'm not a baby." Ness huffs and leans back against her pillows. "It's not like you and Jake don't go visit down there. Even Paul and Embry go sometimes. What is the big deal with me going for a few days? Or weeks. I need to get away from my parents. They are driving me insane."

"Ness, you've gotta realize in their eyes you -are- a child. You're only 7 to them. I know physically, and honestly, mentally you are way older than they want to admit because that would mean you've matured past the point when they stopped aging." Leah shrugs when Ness giggles at the age joke. Her mother always had a thing about age and she still does.

"But, Leah, why do they insist that I can't handle being in Forks?" Ness asks.

"Because they can't protect you forever and they know that. At some point, you might decide to go away to school and that scares them. Even Jake. I know you want to try out being on your own and realistically doing that in Forks is probably the best place you could start. You have family there, and the pack." Leah reassured Ness. "They just don't want that to be now."

Ness huffs again and leans her head back against the fabric covered headboard. Leah knows it's not easy for her to sit back and wait. Ness was already a high school graduate and was ready to leave home. Leah had a feeling that it had a little to do with the fact that Seth was going to be moving back to La Push after finishing his 2-year certification in the Automotive Technician program. Seth had been in Seattle for the last two years because the guys all agreed that he needed to finish a real program and not just be an apprentice.

"Do you think they'll let me at least go visit Grandpa Charlie?" Ness asks without looking at Leah.

"I'm not sure, maybe. And maybe…" Leah waits for Ness to look at her. "Maybe I'll try to talk them into letting you go visit if we go with you. I know the guys are itching to go visit home. It's been a while. Jake can fly down there with you or we can all drive down together."

A smile lit up Ness's face and she jumped at Leah wrapping her arms around her neck. "Thank you!"

Leah rolls her eyes, returning the hug, gives a small chuckle, "Yeah, yeah, don't thank me yet." She pulls back from the embrace and smiles at Ness, "Now no more moping, go for a hunt or tear Jake away from that book. Or go kick Embry and Paul's asses on the XBOX." Ness giggles and sits back on her bed and reaches for her phone. Teenagers.

"Yeah, maybe I'll head down in a few. Thanks again, Leah."

"No problem, Kiddo." Leah sits on Ness's bed another minute or two before she stands up and heads for the door. Her wolf hearing picks up a conversation as she reaches for the door handle, her fingertips just about to touch the doorknob. The voices in the distance are quiet, almost a whisper to her ears.

"I don't get it. She says she doesn't like the vamps, the kid, then she runs off after Nessie?" There is a sigh, "She's so confusing." It's Embry.

"Dude, why do you keep trying to figure her out. We can literally see inside her head and after 8 years as wolves we -still- don't know what goes through the she-wolf's head." Paul's deep chuckle cuts the almost silence.

"They're talking about you…" Ness says quietly from her spot on the bed.

Leah turns and looks over her shoulder and with a shrug says, "Nothing new there." Leah turns and quietly opens the door hoping the guys are too busy talking to hear her coming. She steps out of Ness's room and closes the door silently behind her. She leans against Ness's door and listens.

"I'm almost completely sure that the reason you both don't understand her is that you don't actually listen to anything she says," Jake says, this time in a bored tone that tells Leah he thinks Paul and Embry's conversation is stupid.

"Well, I still don't get it. She could have gone home or to Seattle or hell anywhere a long time ago." Embry comments absentmindedly.

"And why would she -want- to do that?!" Jake snaps suddenly. His tone confused Leah.

Embry's right. She could have left a long time ago. She didn't -need- to stay here with the bloodsuckers or the pack, but she hadn't left. She'd stayed with the Cullens and the pack. She didn't particularly want to go home since her home was the reason why she left to begin with. Or rather, the people back home.

Paul's voice cuts in this time, "Testy much Jake? Is it a sore subject for you?" He's teasing but Jake doesn't seem to notice or care.

"Fuck off." Leah hears the anger in Jake's tone. She starts to walk toward the stairs knowing she needed them to stop the conversation before things went further south. The guys come into view as she approaches the top of the stairs. Jake is up and making his way to the front door, "I'm going for a run."

Leah slowly makes her way down the stairs as the front door slams shut behind Jake. "Alright, what did you two do this time?" Leah asks as she steps off the last stair. She tries to play it off like she has no idea that it was about her. The beta in her wants to run after her alpha, to see what's wrong with him, help him, but the rational side of her is telling her he needs time on his own without her in his head.

"-I- didn't do anything," Paul says, raising his hand in surrender. Leah raises a brow and looks from him to Embry.

"I… uh, I don't know. We are talking about… something…" Embry clears his throat as he glanced at Paul, "Anyway, we were talking and I said something and he snapped at me. I don't know what I did." Embry frowns, probably replaying the conversation in his head.

"Mm-hm," Leah clicks her tongue, "Right and I don't turn into a giant furry dog on occasion."

Paul chuckles from his seat on the couch, "She's got you, Bro."

"Oh shut it, Paul," Embry throws back. "Whatever, I'm going to my room." He leaps up from the sofa and makes a quick exit out of the room and up the stairs.

"So you two are really not going to tell me what's going on?" Leah rests her hand on her hip.

"Really not, that is for them to tell you if they want." Paul shrugs.

Leah knew the answer was coming but it didn't help to annoy her any less. She walks over and sits next to Paul not having anywhere to really go since a run was out of the question. She pulls her knees to her chest and sighs. Maybe she needed to go home. Get a break from the Cullens and the guys. But she wondered if she could manage to get away without them knowing or following her.

She doubted it.

Paul leans back on the couch, watching Leah for a moment, and then reaches over and taps her feet. She automatically stretches her legs out, resting her feet in his lap, it was something that they just did after a while. Maybe a wolf pack thing or a way to stay grounded with all the vamps around, but Paul guessed more than anything it made Leah relax, it gave her away to be close to someone without any catches.

Leah half-smiles at the gesture. She didn't like doing it at first. She always felt self-conscious around the Cullens and pack, being a female shifter and on the not-so-small side. She was taller than all of the females in the house, Esme, Rosalie, Bella, Alice, and Ness, hell she was almost as tall as Edward. But when Pual pulled her feet into his lap the very first time she felt small and it felt good. She didn't have to worry about towering over the pack, they towered over her, and she didn't have to feel bad about herself for a little while. An added perk of this was that Paul sometimes rubbed her feet absentmindedly while they watched tv.

Paul's voice is lower than a whisper when he talks next, his hand resting on her shin, "You know what we were talking about already."

Not a question, but a statement. Paul knew Leah had been listening. He usually did. Whether a good guess or a sixth sense, Leah wasn't sure but he was usually right about her eavesdropping. So she just nods her head.

"I think Em is just genuinely curious. Even I've wondered those same things. I just figure if you wanted us to know or had reasons we'd find out eventually." Paul slides his hand down to Leah's foot.

"I just don't get why Jake would snap at Embry for asking. I mean, I don't even think I know the answers to the questions right now. It's been seven years Paul. I should know the answers shouldn't I?" Leah takes a deep breath watching as Paul tries to relieve the tension he sees on her face by rubbing her feet.

"I don't really know much about what goes through Jake's head lately. Ever since Nessie's birthday." Paul is right. Things in the house started to get weird around Ness's 7th birthday when they had a party with some of the vamps that were there for the battle.

They sit in silence for a while longer neither really saying anything or making any moves to get up. It's nice for a while until Bella and Edward walk back in. Crisis Averted. But we need to talk. Leah thinks as Edward comes into view.

"Thank you, Leah," Edward says aloud not even making a curious face at the site of the wolves before him. Bella looks over her shoulder at her husband then back at Leah.

"So she didn't try to run?" Bella asks quietly.

Leah shakes her head, "No, she probably thought about it for a while before I walked in, but she's up in her room still."

"Thanks," Bella says and then heads up the stairs with Edward quietly following behind him.

Before Edward is out of sight Leah says Did you hear Jake while you were out there? Is he close? Is he okay?

Edward stops at the top of the stairs, turns to look down at Leah, and says, "He's not far, but another talking point for our conversation for tomorrow." He nods and turns to follow his wife.

Leah and Paul look at one another slightly confused by different points. Paul wonders why Edward felt the need to tell them anything and Leah wonders why Jake would be a point to talk about in their conversation about Ness visiting Forks.

"You think Jake is okay?" Leah says.

"Were you talking in your head to him again?" Paul says at the same time.

They both give a small chuckle and Leah answers first, "Yeah. Edweird needed to know that Ness is okay. And they both need to be reassured that their darling daughter isn't about to run off on her own."

"It's been a while since you've called him that," Paul says absentmindedly. "So what do you think is wrong with Jake?"

"Oh you know, a lot of things." Leah smiles a little, "I'm not really sure. I mean he's Jake, but he seems different. Maybe it's an alpha thing?"

Paul continues rubbing Leah's feet and nods in agreement with her, but they both know neither of them really understand what Jake is going through. Especially since he can block himself off from the others when they are in wolf form.

Before they know it they have fallen asleep on the couch and they don't hear Bella come in and drape a blanket over Leah or Jake come back in from his run. Leah wakes a few hours later, it's dark and silent in the house which means Ness, Embry, Jake are all asleep in their rooms and Cullen's are probably out for a run or a hunt or something.

Leah shifts her weight feeling someone pressing against her back and realizes she is on the edge of the sofa she fell asleep on. She glances over her shoulder at Paul who looks miserable sandwiched between the back of the sofa and herself. Leah yawns and carefully sits up trying not to disturb Paul too much.

"Paul," Leah whispers, "Paul, come on, wake up."

Paul grumbles and takes in a deep breath, slowly his eyes open and adjust to being awake. "I would have been fine."

"Mm-hm, right…" Leah stands from the couch and holds out her hand to Paul. He takes her hand as he yawns and stands up.

They head up the stairs, say good night, and walk into their respective rooms.