Chapter 37
(This one earns the M rating folks!)

Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete
I'll take your invitation, you take all of me now

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you

There's nothing else to lose, there's nothing else to find
There's nothing in the world that can change my mind

Eliza slowed as she came out of the forest. She enjoyed running but didn't really want to approach any of the wolf shifter's houses running like a maniac. Jacob was outside the house she recognized from her mother's memories. He was already outside, behind the house, chopping firewood. Eliza couldn't help but smirk slightly. Jacob still had his shirt on, even though it was currently drenched in sweat. Eliza's smile widened as she thought about it. It was a bit surprising to see him clothed, after dredging up what seemed like thousands of images of him without out a shirt on from the shared memories with Isabella.

She wasn't sure if it was a common trait among male shifters, but he seemed to be almost allergic to shirts... or maybe it was the cotton or polyester, but then they wouldn't like pants either. She was half tempted to pursue this line of thought, searching through all of Isabella's memories of the pack to see if there was a trend, but she shook it off as inconsequential and pointless.

Although as she looked up at him from the slight incline of the hill leading up to his house, she noticed the very nice lines of his muscles at they pressed against his sweat soaked top. If forced to take a stance, she would have concede the point that he did have a very nice chest, certainly the best of any one hundred year old man she'd ever met. Not that he had anything on Leah's body. The thought of that made her smile, and nearly stumble over the rough mud leaden ground.

"You know they have perfectly good artificial logs that burn for dozens of hours, why waste your time?" Eliza called out just after she broke the tree line and started up the modest hill towards the house. She announced her presence to him out of respect, because she didn't want to seem like she was sneaking up on him. Not that she thought he was unaware of her approach, especially since she had made no special effort to conceal herself.

"Call me old fashioned. I do it to clear my mind and relieve stress, also it just feels good." Jacob said as he brought the axe down hard, splitting the thick cord of wood he'd just set on the tree stump.

"Aren't you supposed to be like on patrol or something?" Eliza asked feeling slightly playful as she walked up to him.

Jacob bent down, picking up another round piece of wood, and set it on the stump. "I have lots of pack members out on patrol. There is always someone close enough to howl a warning if there's trouble, or if someone in the pack needs help. Right now I have most of them out chasing their tails to find the source of this strange animal scent that's been cropping up all over the forest the last few days. It's probably nothing, but it's not a smell they've run across before, so we're being thorough. You know, it's kind of funny, but for a long time I thought wolf howls were just instinctual gibberish. After a century as a wolf, I can understand every sound one of us makes, I can even make out the calls of real wolves. It saves some time on communication. Mind you I'm kind of unique there not even Leah knows them all, but I am the alpha... and I'm rambling. What did you need Eliza?" Jacob sighed before hefting the axe over his head again to bring it down on another cord of wood. Then he paused and looked her in the eyes.

"How is she?" Jacob set another piece to be split, and asked between swings. He was breathing somewhat heavily but was still barely winded from the effort. He would have asked sooner but Eliza's presence and relatively good mood let him know that Isabella had probably shown improvement, or perhaps something even better, actual consciousness. Not that he thought she would be the same as before, no one could survive that level of injury and come out unscathed. Hell, he was told the fact that she'd regenerated at all was miraculous.

"She woke up about two hours ago." Eliza couldn't stop the smile that broke across her face, she felt relieved and overjoyed just to be able to say the words.

Jacob let out a deep sigh of relief, and tried to push down his feelings of guilt. He hadn't gone to see Isabella even once during her recovery. He had good excuses; Bree had warned Leah of an attack, and he didn't want to leave his home unprotected. Especially since Seth, who was the only officer on the Reservation's police force, was still recovering from his injuries. Also he didn't feel the need to provoke the Cullens, because Leah had visited Eliza for hours every day. What he didn't want to admit was the fact that Isabella's charred and skeletal body scared him more than anything he'd ever seen before. He'd glimpsed enough through the snippets of images gleaned clearly enough from both Seth and Leah's minds. "And, she's… you know… okay? Physically and mentally?"

"She's fine actually, she... she's making out with Alice." Eliza blurted out in surprise as the emotions flooded across the connection her from her Mother. She automatically clapped her hands over her mouth, embarrassed that she didn't have the presence of mind to hold in that little fact. The immediate guilt made her curse herself, she shouldn't have told anyone, much less one of Isabella's oldest friends. Isabella was a deeply private person, and she would've been marginally horrified to have that level of personal information blabbed about so flippantly.

Yet, Jacob was considered to be an extended member of the family for all intents and purposes. Even if Isabella hadn't made that point abundantly clear to Eliza, deep within her Mother's memories it was painfully clear that Jacob had taken on the role of protector when she'd been abandoned and left to fend for herself by the Cullens. He was also a natural leader, and it felt right and natural to talk to someone who knew Isabella when she was still human. In a very real way, he symbolized a tangible connection to Isabella's previous life.

Eliza realized in that moment, that subconsciously, she had always known that Jacob's mere presence in their lives was probably doing more good towards healing Isabella's fractured psyche than just about anything else she could of think of. Well, almost anything... Alice coming back in her life was high on that list as well, and so was the fact that they would eventually crush Edward like a bug.

He was also a connection to Isabella's human father. A man that Eliza had never met, and would never meet because she knew he was a victim of Victoria's Machiavellian vengeance. Isabella didn't really turn towards those fuzzy human memories very often, but Eliza had spent time getting to know the man who was basically her grandfather. Charlie Swan, Police chief and father.

It was amazing how much Isabella remembered about him, little things that seemed meaningless, the tone of this voice and the shape of his mouth under that thick dark mustache, and wrinkles around his eyes when he gave her that unmistakable expression of unconditional love. Unfortunately, all of those memories were powerful emotional triggers for Isabella, that set off bouts of deep self-loathing and unrelenting guilt. No matter how Eliza tried to phrase it, or explain it to her, Isabella blamed herself for Charlie's death.

At Eliza's blunt and unexpected comment, Jacob jerked slightly in surprise. Unfortunately he was in mid axe swing, and not only missed the piece of wood he was trying to split, he buried the axe deeply into the stump he was using as a base. With a heavy frown, he let go of the axe, leaving it wedged so far into the stump that no human could pry it out without tools. He looked down at it in frustration and straightened. Then clenched his hands a few times to work out some muscle tightness that this particular form of exertion brought about. This gave him a chance to gather his thoughts, before looking up to respond.

"I hope she knows what she's doing. I don't want to see her hurt again, last time she was crushed, heaven knows what would happen this time if they go away again." Jacob paused taking it in. Then shook his head, "I can't say I'm particularly surprised though." He glanced down at his hands, the redness from the manual labor was fast disappearing from his palms.

"Um... really? I'm kind of happy, and totally gob smacked about it to be honest." Eliza took a few pointless breaths, then frowned "Wait… what do you mean ? Why aren't you surprised?"

Jacob shrugged a little bit, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "Just a feeling I used to get. I was in love with Isabella for a long time, then I imprinted on Tekali and all that just fell away. Still… when you think about someone as much as I thought about her, and watch and obsess about her as much as I did, certain things kind of sink in. She refused to talk about asshat... Edward. He was this dominating presence in her life. She seemed to base her entire self worth on their relationship, to the point that she was torn apart by his leaving… or at least that's what it felt like at first."

He intentionally paused a moment to take a deep breath and let it out, stretching his arms and twisting his upper body left and right. "After a while she would only really mention the family, and Alice. She confessed to me once that she used to e-mail Alice, like some kind of twisted ghost pen pal. She would say, 'I know Alice will see them in her visions, because I tried to send them that's how her power works. So she'll know what they say when she looks in on me.' If it were just that I don't think I would've noticed, but little things just like that started piling up with other details. When Sam originally found Bella in the forest, she mumbled a bunch of stuff in her delirium, but one thing she said most often was 'Alice isn't coming back.'"

"When she would occasionally talk about them, I noticed it was almost always stories about Alice she related. So them, being together. It just adds up. Alice was always who she truly missed. You'd know better, but I'm not sure she really understood that herself though. Maybe it was easier to see it from the outside looking in. Although she wasn't always the best at thinking about herself... or... that she was able to think that clearly about the Cullens at all." Jacob spoke the last bit hesitantly as he gestured for Eliza to follow him, and then lead her back towards the house.

Once inside Eliza found herself in his smallish kitchen. She had just taken in the gas stove and original tile backsplash when he quickly pulled off his shirt and picked up a dry dishtowel to sponge off his excess sweat. She made a icky face, since she had never sweated like that in her entire life, but she was also smirking inwardly. She'd been in his presence for less than five minutes and he was already shirtless. Then he moved over to the fridge, and stood by it for a moment to cool down. After a few seconds, he leaned down and pulled out a beer, then he looked up at her questioningly, "You want one?"

"Not really my thing. So you think it's mutual? I never saw that coming." Eliza said mostly to herself. "I'm not sure what you mean though. I've only ever known her as she is now."

"Well, she was different... always slipping off into this little dream world, staring off into space, and not really absorbing what was going on around her. Charlie even tried to send her to counseling, but she refused, I don't think she cared about herself at all. Of course there was the other stuff. For a while she would go off and pull silly and dangerous stunts just for the hell of it, before she disappeared I wondered if she had a death wish. Afterwards, when we couldn't find her... there were some doubts as to whether or not she was taken or had left and gotten herself killed.." Jacob didn't look at her as he spoke, opting to focus on reaching into his pocket, pulling out a set of keys, and using the attached bottle opener to pop off the old fashioned metal cap on the beer bottle.

"Hmph. Those memories never really made sense to me, the cliff diving and such. I guess it doesn't matter now though. I'm just so very happy for her, but should I be worried?" Eliza asked tentatively. It was a concern that had been preying on her mind since she felt their first kiss, and after this new one, she really didn't have anyone else she could talk to about it.

Jacob frowned a little bit taking a deep gulp of his beer before taking the time to respond. "I'm honestly not sure how to answer that. This Bella is so different than the one I remember. Stronger, harder, but… if you're asking me about my honest opinion? Bella needs someone. No offense, but someone who fills a different role than that of a daughter. Taking into account how I believe she felt about Alice way back when...even if she didn't realize it at the time… let's just say, I think this was inevitable. I just don't want to see her hurt again. So Alice better be good to her, or that le- vampire will find out just how truly dangerous the Alpha of the Quileute's is."

"You'll have to beat me there." Eliza snorted as she leaned her hip against a counter.

"Anyway, what brings you down here?" Jacob asked realizing that he was having a one on one conversation with Eliza for the first time since they'd met.

"The Volturi. They broke the alliance; and when we wouldn't go along with it they blew us up. Mom wants you to try and call a council tonight. Also… I wondered if anyone in the pack wanted to be there for Henry's funeral? I know you didn't know him all that long or anything, but he was a good man and…" Eliza trailed off somberly, and felt her chest tighten slightly from a twinge of unexpected grief.

"I'll ask around." Jacob said nodding, clearly signaling that if nothing else, he would be there. He gave her a look that asked wordlessly if that was all.

"Well, I'll be up at the hou... smoking ruins." Eliza said after a moment's awkward pause, starting to turn and head out the door.

"Now for something completely different." Jacob said, as his eyes fixed on Eliza before she could turn away completely.

Eliza smiled at the reference, but Jacob's steely glare stifled any amusement she took from it. "Leah."

"What about her?" Eliza narrowed her eyes at him, and her voice turned cautious.

"What's going on between the two of you? From the outside, it looks like you're just leading her along like a carrot on a string. Are you just gonna keep teasing her?" Eliza stared at him, more than a little offended.

"Pardon? I've only known Leah for a little while, and I'm still trying to figure it all out! How the hell is it any of your..." She started indignantly.

Jacob cut her off."No, you've had enough time to figure it out. You don't need months to puzzle through it, it's not quantum physics. If you like someone, you either let them in or you push them away. You can't leave her in limbo like this."

"You have no ri-" Jacob cut her off again, and suddenly Eliza understood what Carlisle must've felt every time she had cut him off.

"Don't bother being offended, I don't give a shit about your feelings." That hung in the air for a few seconds, as Eliza stared at Jacob with more than a little bit of hostility.

Jacob sighed slightly. "Sorry, that didn't come out at all like I wanted it to." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "If Tekali were here she'd kick my ass for saying that. I just meant I don't care enough about your feelings not to say what I think you need to hear. Goddamnit that's not right either. I mean, what I have to say, is important enough, that I don't care if I offend you."

He deflated slightly, and slumped into a chair, wondering if he'd just done far more harm to their relationship than good. Jacob decided he might as well go for broke. "Look! It's just that, Leah. She's one of my oldest and dearest friends. So It's absolutely within my right to get in the face of the person who's driving her crazy. She's been patient, but she's… not like most of the rest of us. A lot of us can enjoy the pack, enjoy the transformation. They think an imprint is inevitable, which it seems to be, but they're okay waiting for it. I waited sixty years before I found Tekali. I admit I got lonely sometimes, but I was okay. Leah... she's wanted to be with someone almost to the point of desperation even before the first time she phased. Hell she was desperate, especially after Sam abandoned her. You have no idea how hard the years have been for her while she's waited for you. As long as you've been alive, she's been alone."

Eliza was going to protest, to argue, she was even prepared to deck Jacob for his bluntness, but she couldn't find it anywhere inside herself to even start. She wanted to shout in his face that she'd been alone that entire time too. But she hadn't… not really. She'd had her Mom with her, her entire life. While not a romantic presence, she was a constant presence in Eliza's life. And Eliza had spent years just soaking up any life she could. She hadn't really felt the pang of loneliness of wanting any sort of mate until sometime in the past few years, and even then it wasn't a major driving need. She didn't know how to define what she really felt, but Eliza was honest enough with herself to know that she wanted to let Leah in. Her response to his little speech was a soft question, "Where is she?"

"She's at the Reservation cemetery, visiting her parents." Jacob tried to keep his lopsided grin in, but he couldn't. He couldn't stand another day of Leah's internal debate about Eliza, even if it was totally warranted angst; and while he was sure his wife was going to take him to task for his approach later, he'd be able to withstand the assault if his gamble worked.

Eliza looked towards the front door and dithered for a moment before turning around with a clearly indecisive expression on her face. She realized that for once, she had no idea what to do, nor even how to start, since she'd never been in this situation before. It wasn't the kind of question she couldn't ask her mother, since she knew for a fact her mother's experience in this sort of thing was questionable or non-existent at best. She certainly wasn't comfortable enough with Rosalie or Emmett to go asking one of them. Alice seemed like she was almost as much of a mess as her Mother, and Bree knew less than she did. She bit her lower lip a little and shuffled in place awkwardly.

"What do I do?" She asked after several long seconds of empty silence. Her voice was soft, almost plaintive and sounded utterly lost. For just a moment, because of her expression, her voice, and the physical similarities between the two, Jacob could have sworn he was talking to the Bella he remembered.

He blinked and turned his head towards the ceiling for a moment in thought. It had never occurred to him that she was completely inexperienced, even though Isabella had alluded to it at one point. Eventually he shrugged and leaned against the fridge. "If you like her, I mean really like her, you need to let her know. She promised you not to pressure you, or make you feel like she's trying to rush things. So you need to make the first move. My advice is let her get as close to you as she desperately wants to be. I'm not saying you gotta go and declare your undying love for her or anything, but god if anyone deserves it, it's her."

"That's just it, I don't exactly know how I feel." Eliza took a few deep breaths. She knew she was exaggerating her anxiety, but it did help her focus a little. And at least it let Jacob know how serious she was taking this. She felt a ball in her stomach starting to form, and she realized how accurate her statement was. She had no clue how she was supposed to explain her feelings, since she couldn't even define them to herself.

"So you really haven't dated before." When Eliza looked up at his statement, he shrugged slightly. "Isabella said something about you being isolated and unexposed to the world to a large degree. No offense." Jacob frowned slightly as he spoke.

"None taken. I've... well... not really no." Eliza looked down, too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"This… that's... this… is actually really funny." Jacob tried to hold in the laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation as it struck him, even though he didn't want to her to think he was mocking her, or god forbid laughing at her. She might very literally be able to tear him apart in a second, that brought his laugh up short as he coughed his laugh away. The cover didn't work and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hey!" She said indignantly. She was equal parts angry and hurt at the idea of Jacob laughing at her when she'd just revealed something very private. She rarely let herself be this open and vulnerable.

"Sorry. I just found it.. amusing you're what like seventy years old right, and you haven't even been in a single real relationship? That's just…" Jacob was going to say 'sad', but stopped himself. In truth he did feel a sudden pang of sympathy for her, so his forced his goofy grin down into a half grimace. Eliza didn't buy it.

Jacob sighed and looked at her, his smile now gone completely. If they had gone for nearly three quarters of a century without any physical contact... he didn't want to think about what that would do to them. Even Leah had the occasional fling. Though Jacob knew in Leah's case it was more of a desperate attempt to reach for some sort of vague and temporary connection, a moment of human contact more than any sort of interest in anyone in particular. She never would admit it openly, but the clarity of an imprint was something she wished for with every fiber of her being. When it finally happened, something she desperately needed clicked into place for... he could feel it every time they were both phased.

"I don't need to put up with this." Eliza said feeling more than a little offended. She knew why she had kept to herself all these years. In part she felt that she had to stay separate from the world so that she didn't inflict romantic emotions on her mother. She also had her own issues to work though. Joham's legacy made her an alien to normal society. The concept of sharing something so intimate was an odd and frustrating concept. Isabella didn't exactly help there, she was about as removed from a normal social experience as was possible. Eliza just didn't have the heart to explore beyond her mother's limited interests very far.

Only now, with Isabella finally starting to open up for the first time, Eliza was suddenly free to pursue whatever romance she saw fit, and it frightened the hell out of her. It left her remaining excuse, being an alien among normal people no longer held the same appeal. Especially with Leah in her life. Here was someone that would never question her, and would love her no matter who she was. It was, in truth, a terrifying ideal to live up to. Her first relationship was likely to be her last and only.

"I'm sorry, really sorry. I couldn't resist, but seriously… I need you to figure out what you want. Because if you're just stringing Leah along, keeping her in the dark, wondering, and hanging on to a dream of hoping that one day, down the road, you'll let her in and be hers... only to dash that entirely. That would be cruel beyond measure. You should break it off now, and make it clean. Or suck it the fuck up and kiss her already..." Jacob blinked a few times before taking a swig of beer and rolling his eyes.

"I can't believe I'm giving dating advice to Bella Swan's vampire daughter, on how to date a werewolf." Jacob rubbed his face dramatically, and couldn't help but shake his head at the supreme twist of irony.

"Wolf shifter, the distinction is important." Eliza said almost absently, as she corrected that little detail for what seemed like hundredth time. She was tired to being the only one to get the distinction, and she would have made a bigger deal of it if not for the fact that Leah dominated her thoughts. Jacob's words... as blunt and caustic as they were, rang in her mind like a annoying bell. Then she realized with a start, that he was right.

"Fine, wolf shifter. Whatever. That doesn't make it less weird." Jacob sighed, he really didn't care about the semantics.

"As long as that's clear. Are you coming to the funeral?" Eliza quickly added, because she had almost completely forgotten that the shifters had spent quite a bit of time in the house, and some of them might've been as fond of Henry as she was.

Jacob nodded in confirmation. She nodded in acknowledgement somberly. "See you there."

Eliza gave Jacob a friendly but sober smile, and then turned on her heel and bolted out the door. She knew what she had to do, no matter how impossible it seemed to her. Jacob watched her go and took another big swig of cold beer, before turning back towards the wall to access the land line.

Quil picked up after a few rings. "Hello?"

"Start the phone tree, need to call a council meeting tonight." Jacob said with a slight sigh, he wasn't looking forward to the news that Isabella was gonna drop on them. He also wasn't looking forward to the scolding Tekali was going to give him if the conversation he had just had, ended up scaring Eliza away from Leah, rather than opposite. If his meddling caused the whole thing to blow up in his face, Tekali would kick his ass.

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"So I finally met her Mom. Yes... she's a she...and if you could meet her, I really think you'd like her too.. Her name is Eliza. She's Isabella's daughter, can you believe it? Not only did Isabella Swan survive, she gave Charlie that grandkid he always wanted. I know it was hard without him, I haven't told Isabella about that night yet... I'm kind of afraid to. She's a little scary. Anyway, Eliza... She's more than I ever could have imagined. She's strong, and smart… and beautiful. She makes me laugh, and she's everything I hoped she would be. I bet even dad would like her, she is a total geek like him, and she's not ashamed of it at all. There's one thing though, she's kind of a vampire. I know, I didn't think that was possible either. I guess Sam and Billy were wrong. The weird thing is she's different, I mean she's nothing like the vampires in our history. I'm not really sure how that works and... I don't know what to do. I'm so lost Mom." Leah kept her voice low, and she tried not to sound too vulnerable and plaintive. She was kneeling in the soft grass by the headstone, tracing the letter's of her mother's name again and again.

"The thing is, Eliza's not doing so good right now. Isabella is in a coma, and I can't be there for her like I want to be. She's so hurt, and all I want to do is hold her. But… ever since her Mom was hurt, she barely seems aware of anything around her. I know that's selfish, but I can't help it. I need her, and I can't stop this feeling I'm forced to keep bottled deep down in my stomach. We aren't even together, actually I don't know if we'll ever be together. I'm okay with that, I can just be her friend. It's just hard, I don't know if I could handle seeing her with someone else." Leah closed her eyes, and shed a single tear which she quickly wiped away. She refused to be a whimpering love struck fool. That's why she had come to visit her parents. She had been visiting them for over half a century, whenever hurt and loneliness became too much. Still, she couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that she hadn't felt the need to come since she'd imprinted on Eliza.

"Seth imprinted too. On Eliza's adopted sister Bree, I know vampire family dynamics are little confusing. Though I also know they're not normal even by vampire standards… but they are a family. Things are kind of insane lately, but I don't want you to worry. I know you would, but you shouldn't. I'm going to take care of her, and I'll keep an eye on Seth too. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Even if things don't work out, I know she'll try not to hurt me. She's really good like that. I love you Mom... Dad. I miss you both every day." She touched a kiss to the cold stone over each of their names, and then stood. Then as she turned around she came face to face with Eliza who looked at her with wide eyes.

Leah examined her face for a few moments before closing the distance between them with a worried expression on her face. "Is she…?"

Eliza blinked and shook her head wildly, changing her expression immediately, realizing that she must've looked crazed. "No, no... she's fine. Totally fine. Actually the coven just…" Eliza trailed off and shook her head, taking a calming breath. "I actually came here looking for you. I wanted a chance to talk…" Then she shifted her head to the side of Leah to look at the graves behind her.

Leah shifted nervously as Eliza shifted her attention from her to her parent's graves and then back up at her. Her eyes widened in surprise when Eliza spoke up softly, her expression serious. "So are you going to introduce me?"

Leah blinked in surprise and blushed hotly, knowing from that comment that it meant that Eliza had heard at least some of the one way conversation she'd been having. "I… we… are you sure?" Leah's voice was very soft and nervous, though she tried unsuccessfully to repress a small smile from crossing her face.

Eliza nodded, her expression solemn. "You've met my Mom, I'd like to meet your parents."

Leah blushed further, but reached out and took Eliza's hand and turned to walk back the short distance to her parent's graves. When they were close, Leah crouched down and pulled Eliza with her so they were eye level with the gravestones. Her voice came out tentative and emotional, long dried up sadness colored her words crossed with a lot of butterflies and nerves. "Mom… Dad… There's someone here I'd like you to meet. This is Eliza Swan. Eliza, these are my parents; Harry and Sue Clearwater."

Eliza nudged Leah's shoulder with her own, and then touched each gravestone in turn. Then she put on her best smile and squared off her shoulders. "Hi… I'm Elizabeth Renee Swan, though I usually just go by Eliza." She glanced over at Leah nervously before continuing. "I haven't known your daughter very long. Already though, I can say with absolute certainty that she's amazing, and incredibly special. I... I had a really rough time this past week and Leah helped me so much more than she realizes. You would've been really proud of her." Eliza knew she was speaking as much to Leah as to the gravestones, and somehow it made things easier to say. She felt Leah squeeze her hand tightly as she complimented her.

Leah smiled at the gesture, and squeezed Eliza's hand in return. "I'm so glad you all could meet formally, I hope you don't mind if I bring her back again sometime." She stood up to leave again, but Eliza lingered.

Although Eliza started to whisper in a nearly inaudible murmur, Leah could just make out her words, and it made her frown because of their ambiguity.

"I'm glad I showed up. I promise, I'll do my best not to hurt her." Eliza stared at their engraved names for a few seconds, taking in the shape of the letters and the dates they died. Leah had been alone for far too long.

Eliza moved over to Leah who was waiting with a puzzled and partially worried expression. They started to walk away from the graves in silence before Leah couldn't take it the unanswered question anymore and fixed Eliza with a nervous, uncertain, and curious expression. "Are you okay? That... didn't bother you or freak you out or anything, did it?"

Eliza frowned and shook her head. Eliza had been deep in thought when Leah spoke, and she had startled her out of her internal reverie. After a moment, taking in Leah's conflict, she shrugged feeling awkward. "No. I mean, I'm okay, and I loved meeting them. It just reminded me. Charlie has one next to his house, I visited it when we got here. Mom was so distracted with stuff that she didn't notice, thankfully. When she cr... came back to Forks after being turned she found the stone. That's how she ended up with the Volturi, she had nowhere else to go. So no, it might've been bittersweet... but it meant something to me. It just that I... sorta came here because I wanted to talk to you. Although, um, this might not be the greatest place though." She looked around a little unsure of her surroundings.

Leah's heart dropped in her chest, and her mouth went dry, not trusting herself to speak, she nodded once, doing her best to keep her face impassive. She gestured for Eliza to follow her, and it was nearly a minute later when she felt she could keep a steady voice. "I'm staying at Seth's house, we could go there."

Eliza nodded, thinking that was as good a place as any. She was still trying to figure out how to put her thoughts and feelings into words. Unfortunately that made her so lost in thought that she was completely silent as they headed down the gravel path to the main entrance to the cemetery. She wasn't aware that her silence was sending all the wrong messages to Leah as they walked.

Leah was struggling to keep her composure. Eliza seemed to be exhibiting all the signs of psyching herself up for a "It's not you, it's me" speech; and Leah was trying to determine if there was anything that she had done wrong, something that forced Eliza to come to a negative decision.

As they came to the gate at the main entrance of the cemetery, a well maintained black motorcycle came into view. Eliza ran her eyes over it almost absently. "I like the bike... Oh God… mine's probably melted! God damnit! I really liked that bike too." Eliza's expression shifted from admiration to horror as she spoke. Visions of a twisted pile of wreckage dominated her thoughts for a few seconds, threatening to pull up the worst of the trauma from the previous week. So with some concerted mental effort she pushed it away, along with the ocean of conflicted emotions that went along with thoughts of the explosion.

The small snippets of memories she'd picked up from Bree were enough to send her into a minor anxiety attack. Eliza almost refused to believe that the blackened husk of bones that Bree had seen were really Isabella. In a lot of ways she was glad she was unconscious for that part. When she had awakened; seeing her mother's emaciated condition was bad enough.

What was so much worse for Eliza was the complete emptiness she felt when she woke up. The empty void where she was so used to feeling her Mother, her absence was terrifying. Even when they weren't speaking over their mental link her mother was always present in some way. That feeling of her. Just knowing she was there, was a constant comfort that Eliza hadn't realized was an absolute cornerstone of her life, until it was gone.

Leah was quiet as she started to accept the inevitable. She slid onto the bike, and felt some of her old bitterness return to her, although that old anger faltered slightly when Eliza climbed on behind her, and without comment wrapped her arms around Leah's waist. The closeness brought Eliza's mind back to the dilemma at hand. Eliza hadn't really been this close to Leah before, pressed tightly against her back with her arms wrapped around her. She had almost refused the offer for a ride, since she could move faster than the bike, but then she realized they needed to go together, so she accepted the offer at the last second.

They didn't bother with helmets, as they sped off deeper in to the Reservation toward the residential area. It took Eliza a second to realize that no one was going to care because it was probably common to see Leah and the Pack ignore the usual safety laws, since most of the Reservation was used to the presence of their supernatural protectors. That thought didn't even cross Leah's mind, since she knew that they weren't in danger of being pulled over. Seth was Reservation police, and he learned his lesson the last time he tried to pull her over as a prank. Jacob and Tekali yelled at them both for an hour because they'd damaged the police car in the ensuing squabble, though that had been years and years ago.

As they approached the house, Eliza was relatively surprised that it was pretty much the same as Eliza had seen in her mother's memories, although the solar panels and hydro-filter on the side of the house were new. The paint wasn't even faded, it seemed semi-fresh, so it was clear Seth kept the house up on the outside.

Seeing Eliza's glance at the hydro-filter and solar panels, Leah murmured quietly, "We try to be as self-sufficient and as green as possible. We started using solar panels for the houses, finished up that project a few years ago."

Eliza nodded absently as they got off the bike, and she followed Leah wordlessly into the house, only to discover that the inside of the house was a completely different story than the outside. Where the outside was relatively neat and tidy, the inside was a hodge-podge collection of furniture collected and restored from the last hundred years. The dichotomy was odd to say the least. Yet most of the decorations hadn't changed since Isabella had been human.

"Does Seth ever bother decorating with the times?" Eliza asked as she examined one of the glass gnomes sitting under a thick layer of dust on top of a very old upright piano.

Eliza picked the little hideous bauble up, and brushed it off while examining it closely as she turned it over in her hand a couple of times before setting it down. She had never seen anything like it before.

"That was Mom's. Seth doesn't like to touch their stuff. He was very close to them, and I don't think he's ever really gotten over them dying." Leah said quietly. Then she watched as Eliza scanned around room several times, it was like she was memorizing every object.

"I'm sorry. I don't exactly have biological parents. I killed my bio-mom and if I have anything to say about it, my sperm donor will be dead the next time I see him." Eliza kept her expression neutral, because she didn't want those emotions to show on her face. The guilt she's always felt from the death of her mother, a woman she had never met, and who's name she would never know, welled up inside her. As always it was partnered with the total unrelenting hatred she felt for her biological father.

"Yeah... I still have no idea how to respond to that one." Leah looked down at her hands and busied herself examining her fingers for dirt under her nails. It was definitely more to give herself something to do besides stare at Eliza, than it was any sort of vanity on her part. After a second or two she realized that it felt marginally silly, so she let her arms drop to her sides. Then she tried looked around the room for anything to catch her attention, but there was nothing that she hadn't seen a thousand times.

Reluctantly she had to return her attention towards Eliza, and as she brought her eyes up to tentatively meet Eliza's again, she unexpectedly felt that same rush of delight whenever she took in her features. Just being in Eliza's presence was enough to set her skin tingling, her heart to beat twice as fast, and her body trembling in preparation for something that wasn't going to happen. Now it was combined with the nervousness of this 'talk' that Eliza wanted to have. Leah was working overtime to keep herself from looking like an emotional wreck.

"It kind of sucks. Not that they matter to me at all. Isabella is my family... and Bree. God it's so weird to think of her as family. It's strange… that not much actual time has passed, even though so much has happened since we took her in. In a lot of ways were all still strangers. At the same time she's jumping in with both feet. She really wants to be part of a family. No… she really wants to be a part of our family." She checked the connection to make sure her wall was still up. She didn't want Bree to think that she didn't want her around, and at the same time, she didn't want her currently whirling emotions to be broadcast to either Bree or her mother.

"That has to be frustrating and interesting all at once." Leah felt a sting of pain at the truth of Eliza's past. She had heard it before, but it still bothered her, mostly because she knew that Eliza blamed herself for everything.

"A little honestly. I do my best to... mostly... really I just don't think about it." Eliza shrugged and deliberately changed topics, at the same time she was doing her level best to avoid the one thing she really did want to talk about. "So! In other news. Since the Volturi tried to blow us up, we decided that we didn't like that, and so we've declared ourselves our own Coven. The Swan Coven!" Eliza's voice was full of mirth at her own comment.

"Of course when we left the Cullens house, Alice joined us, not entirely shocking there I guess, but so did Rosalie and Emmett." Eliza rolled her eyes slightly, she still hadn't seen that one coming, and was glad that she wasn't the only one that had been surprised by it.

"That's not so surprising." Leah replied, taking the news in stride. She couldn't stop a small smile, when Eliza blinked at her in minor frustration or surprise, she wasn't sure of which.

"I was around for the past week. I saw how quickly Rosalie became very protective of Bree. With you founding a new Coven, as long as Bree was a part of it, I'm not at all that surprised that Rosalie would want stay with her. At least that's what it seemed like to me. Seth got to know Bree quite a bit over the week, and his thoughts pretty much confirmed Rosalie's connection to her. He's been very... um, invested in her since the imprint." Leah shrugged a little bit in an offhand manner.

"What is it with you guys? Nothing seems to faze you." Eliza pouted slightly. Leah's casual way of just accepting things as truth seemed slightly at odds with the memories her mother had of the emotional states of the Quileute's. In the past, the wolves were far more volatile, prone to get worked up and fly off the handle at the slightest provocation.

"Hmmm?" Leah was thinking about that new family, and wondering if Seth was going to end up happy; so she only partially absorbed what Eliza asked.

"Never mind. There's going to be a funeral for Henry in about an hour or so I think." Eliza clinched her jaw a little in sadness, and tentatively met Leah's eyes. "That's not why I'm here, though."

Leah raised an eyebrow, she looked around the room again doing her best to keep her composure, so it wouldn't be too hard on Eliza to break this news. She wondered if Eliza was there to tell her that they were leaving, and that after the funeral they'd be gone. In the short stunted conversations they'd had the past few days, Eliza had mentioned that leaving was one possibility when her mother woke up. "Why are you here?" She finally said, proud that her voice only showed a little hint of the strain she felt. She was already tired of dancing around the subject that was so clearly on Eliza's mind.

"I... have absolutely no idea how to start." Eliza was exasperated with herself; she was terrified of something she knew was a sure thing. She had absolutely no doubt that Leah would reciprocate her feelings. The problem in her mind was that she didn't just want Eliza to like her because of some biological imperative that left her without choice. She wanted Leah to like her, to want her for who she was. "What's on your mind?" Leah was worried, Eliza never looked this tense. She was balling herself into a bundle of nerves, it was so unlike her that Leah's first instinct was to reach out and console her, but she resisted the impulse.

"I... Don't know how to say it, god Jake was right. I'm a total spaz... maybe I don't have to say it." Eliza fidgeted a little bit.

Leah had narrowed her eyes at the thought of Jacob saying something like that, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rush from Eliza. She darted forward and pulled Leah into a tight embrace. Leah was a little startled, but didn't resist in the slightest, wrapping her arms loosely around Eliza's waist.

She was about to ask what was wrong again, or to say something gently reassuring when without hesitation or warning Eliza pressed her lips against Leah's. Leah's brain short circuited and went into overload from the feeling of Eliza's lips, and the kiss they had been dancing around since they met. Leah lost control as she gave herself into the wave of powerful emotions crashing over her. She wasn't sure this moment was going to come, and didn't fully know how to react now that it had. She wrapped her arms tightly around Eliza's waist, pulling her in close. It was a move that Eliza clearly appreciated because she seemed to melt into the embrace.

They kissed fiercely for several minutes, lost in each other scents and flavors. Tongues intertwined, happily fighting each other for their place in each other's mouth. It was heady and overwhelming, but most of all it was blissful. For Leah, it made every dream she'd had for the past two weeks, and the past century pale in comparison. The girl who had become her entire world at first sight was kissing her. Leah felt her emotions surging, she wanted nothing more than to rip every scrap of clothing off Eliza's body and see how much more intense this feeling could get. If this was how imprints felt when they were together, she couldn't blame them at all for being too saccharine for words.

Eliza didn't care anymore, this felt right on so many levels. She didn't care that her Mother had been going through something similar moments before. She knew that she had lost the ability to concentrate on keeping her emotions from broadcasting so that both her Mom and Bree probably could tell what she was feeling. She didn't care if Bree felt uncomfortable at this sudden presence of strong sexual feelings radiating off her in almost palpable waves. She only cared about how right this felt.

When they finally parted, they were both breathing heavily; Leah for breath, and Eliza to handle the surging emotions inside of her and the suddenly very intoxicating scent of Leah that surrounded her, no enveloped her in a shroud of warmth and passion. When she leaned back slightly to look up at Leah, a strange ache filled her. She wasn't prepared for that kind of emotional connection, this quickly.

Leah moaned in contentment, and leaned her head forward to rest her forehead against Eliza's. Eliza blinked as her eyes met Leah's, startled and speechless at how… raw and beautiful she was in that moment. Her face flushed, her body tense, and her eyes fluttering from adrenaline and the rush of endorphins that only strengthened her already overpowering scent.

Eliza didn't know what to say, or how to act. She just knew there was something deep, and primal that needed to keep going, because Leah was hers. They were together, and they didn't need words or a hesitant discussion about it to formalize things. Jacob's advice came back to her, and she realized that this was it. She was going to be in this for the long haul; and given their potentially limitless lifespan… this was the first day of a proverbial promise of forever.

The pressure of that level of commitment weighed heavily on her mind, but Eliza didn't want to shy away from it. It was as if a light bulb went off above her head, she wanted this. She wanted Leah. Still, they hadn't declared anything beyond the desire to simply be together which is what they both wanted, and she hoped that they had all of the time in the world to explore the deeper side of things.

Eliza shook her head, she didn't want to think about the fact that there might not be a future for them. The Volturi were formidable, and it was very likely her family was about to be torn asunder. "Do we have to stop?" She whispered plaintively, her expression shy as she looked up at Leah.

Desire flashed in Leah's eyes the moment Eliza's words left her mouth. "No... I just wanted to be clear, though. This isn't a fling, or an emotional release because of the last week for you? And I'm not dreaming right? This is real? You're mine now right?"

Leah's gaze bored into Eliza's with an intensity that Eliza had never seen before. She wasn't sure which surprised her more, the gaze itself, or the fact that the intensity excited her. Eliza locked her eyes on Leah's, biting her lip shyly and then nodded a couple of times as she pressed up closer to Leah, using instinct more than artifice to rub herself against Leah slowly.

Leah hesitated only for a second before one hand slid into Eliza's auburn hair, pulling her in for another hungry kiss. She felt Eliza respond, relinquishing control letting her lead. Leah slowly shifted to press her thigh up between Eliza's legs. The move was slow but sure, giving Eliza time to pull back if she wanted. Eliza did the opposite, responding by pressing against Leah's thigh with a soft groan of pleasure.

The two of them rocked together slowly, reveling in the feel of one another's touch before Eliza pulled her head back slightly, though she kept the rest of her body pressed in close and continued to rub slowly against Leah. "I have a confession to make." Eliza whispered as she met Leah's eyes.

Leah met her eyes with a questioning look, letting her speak, and resisting the immediate urge to claim her mouth again. "I'm… I haven't… I mean… I've never… with anyone." Eliza's eyes were on Leah's pleading with her to understand what she was saying, and what confessing it actually meant.

Leah met Eliza's eyes, the intensity in Leah's expression seemed to get deeper as a feral grin crossed her face, before she curled her features into a playful mask, hiding the part of her that was raw nerves and tentative fear. She felt giddy at diving into things so completely. The other more primal part of her wanted to howl with triumph. The idea of being Eliza's first and only made her excited beyond the telling of it. Her heart was beating so quickly, that she couldn't count the beats anymore if she tried.

Then Leah paused, tentative because while she knew she was in for the duration, she wasn't sure Eliza felt the same. That was almost enough to make her pull back. Then she thought of the one word, the perfect and kind of silly concept that would make sense to Eliza. She wanted to groan at the slightly absurd nature of it, but it was exactly what she felt no matter where it came from. She hadn't really gotten into Star Trek, but her Dad had been a fan, and Seth was at one point, and she had been inflicted with it enough that a good chunk of it sunk in.

"Imzadi." Leah murmured quietly as she nudged her nose lightly against Eliza's. She knew that Eliza would get the reference, but she was more than a little embarrassed at what she was sure would be perceived as an awkward and clumsy attempt to play to Eliza's interests.

However Eliza didn't seem to read the awkwardness at all. She was stunned, her mouth open in shock, and her mind racing from the beautiful sentiment behind the word. She was deeply touched, and she tried to move her mouth moved several times in an attempt come up with a way of responding to Leah's wonderful gesture, but she had trouble forming the words to express how much it meant.

It wasn't so much the meaning behind the name itself, but what saying it meant. It meant that Leah cared enough about her, and about her interests to take an interest in them herself. Her deepest question was answered. Leah was interested in Eliza for who she was. Eliza's next motion was almost involuntary. She threw herself forward, her lips connecting hungrily with Leah's again as she pressed in against her with almost too much force. Leah grunted a little, but wasn't about to complain.

She started to laugh but it was quickly stifled by Eliza's heavy kiss. Their hands began to wonder over each other's bodies. Desire quickly morphed into lust, which devolved into something so animalistic, that without thought, clothes were soon being torn from each other's bodies.

Leah had the presence of mind to drag them both out of the living room and down the hall into her room, and retained just enough modesty to slam the door. Eliza on the other hand didn't seem care if the whole world watched. She hadn't even really noticed that Leah was moving them into another room. All that mattered was this dusky skinned woman that had become one of the most important people in the world to her.

Leah shifted her weight once they hit the bed, and spun them around so Eliza was beneath her. Continuing to take charge, Leah spent her time kissing down her jaw line, along her slender graceful neck, to the depression above her collar bone. Eliza had never felt anything like that before, the heat from Eliza's tongue on Eliza's cool skin, played with her sense of touch sending waves of unexpected tingling pleasure down her spine all the way to her toes.

Leah didn't stop, she started to move down her body. Stopping to lavish attention to her nipples. Leah reveled in the chance to touch Eliza so intimately. Eliza took the chance to run her fingers through Leah's dark hair luxuriously. Eliza's soft sighs of pleasure turned into low purrs of bliss as she shifted beneath Leah's tongue.

Leah responded to Eliza's purring with a soft possessive growl of her own, the animalist nature of it only heightened the mood. Her lips trailed down Eliza's rib cage across and over the sensitive skin of her toned stomach, and then along the juts of hip bone just below her waist. Her tongue traced along the ridges of her abdominal muscles. Each touch focused on driving Eliza just a little more crazy.

Leah felt Eliza tense and take a deep breath in anticipation as her lips trailed lower before she shifted and skipped the juncture between her thighs, and instead nuzzled and kiss down to her thighs. She couldn't resist another smile of triumph when she heard Eliza whimper in protest at being teased, even though Eliza made no move to stop her. Instead Leah took her time and worked her way slowly all the way down Eliza's legs.

Then with a grin, Leah worked her way back up Eliza's legs, tongue tracing and caressing the skin as she moved her way back up Eliza's body. This time however she didn't shy away from Eliza's most intimate spot, her tongue instead lingering there, exploring every inch of her. Leah shuddered involuntarily as Eliza bucked, writhed, moaned, and shivered, while she tried everything she could think of to push her pleasure even higher.

Eliza's climax made her scream, hard and long and loud enough to push against the glass of the room she'd barely been aware of, and threaten to shatter it. Eliza shuddered and spasmed for nearly a minute after she came drifting back down from her orgasmic high. Then she lay still, since she couldn't quite seem to make her limbs work for a while after that. Leah slid up into her arms, a wide grin splitting her face as she started to kiss her again. Eliza purred and responded to the kiss, tasting herself on Leah's lips and not minding in the slightest. "Leah?" Seth's voice called out through her bedroom door. His voice sounded amused and innocent..

"Go away!" Leah absently yelled back at her brother, returning to kiss Eliza who seemed to becoming more aware of their surroundings now. She didn't want to stop, she wanted to have all of Eliza now that she was finally hers.

"Can't, the Council wants to go up to the funeral." Seth bellowed back his tone even more amused now.

"I... shit. Give us a few minutes." Leah said clearly irritated. She sighed and rested her forehead against Eliza, who was grinning up at her. While she knew she'd usually be annoyed by her brother's smug tone, currently she was much more annoyed at the thought of getting out of a bed with Eliza in it.

Seth noticed the pronoun usage, but hardly needed that to confirm anything. The cries of loud sex had been easily heard, plus there was a trail of tattered clothes strewn all the way down hallway. "Tell Eliza she can catch a ride if she wants." Seth shouted through the door, a smug grin splitting his face from ear to ear. He had taken a lot of grief from his sister of the years, and he took immense delight in teasing her.

"Go away! You are not too old for me to come out there and beat you senseless!" Leah shouted, her face was bright red, and she looked like she was about to storm out of the room naked to confront her brother. She knew he was teasing her, but she wasn't about to let him get away with it without some sort of response.

"We'll be out front. Oh… and if one of you are missing a shirt, it's hanging from the ceiling fan!" Seth called out filled with more than a little amusement. From the bedroom his voice trailed off as he made his way out of the house. Leah pouted, it was clear that he had won this exchange with his sister.

They heard the front door shut and Leah blushed as she looked at Eliza who was grinning.

"Don't worry. We'll get him back, I promise." Eliza spoke up, amused at the whole situation. She lifted her head to kiss Leah firmly, which had the immediate effect of dissolving her frown.

Eliza had no intention of hiding their relationship, no matter who they were around. She shifted and pressed a soft kiss to Leah's cheek before murmuring in her ear, "Besides, I definitely plan on taking my turn later." Eliza got the response she was hoping for, Leah blushed crimson and a wide smile nervous crossed her face.

She kissed Leah one last time a deep and lingering kiss, letting the contentment of their lovemaking wash over her for the precious few seconds they had left together... for the moment.

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Author's notes: WOOO O_O long chapter again!

For those who are interested, Samantha and I are collaborating on another story. This one is much different than IAL, (Though it will probably be slow in developing and detailed like this story.) It will be a Bellice fic. Since we both totally ship that. But it's a wholly different universe.

title: Secrets and Covenants

www dot fanfiction dot net /s/9082301/1/Secrets-and-Covenants

I hope you'll give it a shot!

1) This is one of those chapters that turned out nothing like we expected at the start. I typed up something of maybe 1,500 and then another 1000 words for another part we intended to have as part of this chapter. 1500 words to do this entire Eliza/Leah interaction. I HATED it.

So I turned it over to Samantha with the plea to do it justice. She looked at the shite i came up with, scrapped it and came back with a chapter with about 4500 words. Then sent it to me. That's where it kinda went off the rails. I sent it back to her with about 10k words. At that point we hadn't even touched the last section. Because of Samantha's advice we put that to next chapter.

2)Samantha Minuet's Co-Author's Notes: Well I have no excuses this time, it's all my fault. I had a big case of writer's block... yes if you didn't like this chapter blame me I took primary on it. Or if you liked it... hey I'll take all the credit too! Just kidding, it was a collaboration as always. When I submitted my first draft to Kathryn she returned it with nearly double the words. She's totally awesome as always. Until next week!

3) This chapter took much discussion and arguing between us! (Though not all was related directly to this chapter. Samantha's patience is AMAZING just like her words!) She is the primary writer on this chapter and I just had the benefit of working off of her start. Having a co-author that is so awesome KICKS ASS.

4) I hope you liked the Leah/Eliza interaction, been awhile since we paid attention to them. I'm pretty happy with their relationship. It's likely to be much more playful than Isabella and Alice's. Easier if you will, without being shallow. If that makes sense.

5) Special recognition goes out to the new holder of the title "Best Story Review". LilithRyoka put together an AMAZING and in depth review of our entire story. I very much appreciate the time and the effort that such a review took! Thank you!

6) I mentioned in my last chapter wanting 5k reviews. A couple people said i was shooting wayyyy high. I don't particularly care. I like setting my sights high. we have 350+ people who've favorited this and over 500 that follow it. If 300 people are nice enough to review every 3 or 4 chapters we'd blow past it! And that's my goal.

Not to mention. There's a HELL of alot of story to go.

As always, please read and review.

Next Chapter: A solemn occasion.