Playing the part. That's all Leah was doing now just playing a part until she had a reason to live again. Play the part, keep going, keep her promise.

That promise being that no matter how bad things got she wouldn't do anything foolish like jump off a cliff or refuse to eat. This separation however painful hadn't been intentional.

Skylar hadn't known when she'd signed up right out of high school that she would end of meeting her other half on a rainy day outside an off-brand department store. Nor had she known the full impact of what it meant to be someone's imprint.

"Remind me again why the heck I agree to this?" Leah huffed tugging at the ugly green collar of the stupid elf outfit she'd been strong-armed into wearing for the evening.

"It's the holidays' Lee Lee." Her mother reminded meeting her daughter's glare in the full body mirror as she continued fussing over the elf eared hat, she'd tugged over Leah's short, chopped hair. "And Charlie can really use the support this year."

Leah rolled her eyes at that but held her tongue with extreme difficulty. Sure, she wanted her mother to be happy, but it still felt too soon for her mother to be seeing someone new. Especially when that someone ended up being the leech's father and the town sheriff outside of La Push.

"Come on L just think we're getting paid with cookies and cocoa." Seth was more than pleased with the arrangement "Just like the big man in red himself." Her younger brother laughed striding into the living room decked out in his own elf outfit.

"Whatever. Will Quil be bringing Clair to this thing?" she was trying her hardest to at least pretend she was involved in the world around her when really all she wanted was to stay curled up in her darkened room with a blanket over her head and one of her girlfriend's sweatshirts pressed against her nose.

All the scent had been pulled from them be now of course but just that small act did help soothe the ripped place in Leah's chest where her heart used to beat.

Sky had already served a full tour before her first fateful visit to the Quileute Rez meaning she had only been on extended leave at the time Leah had found and imprinted on her and though they both understood what that kind of commitment meant that didn't make the time apart any easier to take.

These last few months have been nothing short of torture for the she-wolf. She hadn't heard from Skylar besides a few postmarked letters in weeks and the last phone call she'd gotten her imprint had been heading into some heavy firepower while her unit was tasked with defending innocents in a war zone.

Leah knew she wasn't allowed to know where her heart had been sent but that didn't stop her from staying up half the night watching every bit of news coverage, she could on what was going on across the world.

To make it even worse Leah knew that Christmas was Skyler's favorite holiday tied as it was with Halloween and Thanksgiving which had also been a pain to pretend to enjoy on Sky's behalf.

"Beats me." Seth shrugged "I do know that Ness and Jake will be stopping at some point."

Leah groaned just for effect when in reality she was relieved at having more of her pack around her "Great just what I need. Just promise Jake won't take any incrementing pictures of me well like this-" she ran her hand down her green suited self.

"Come on Leah you know there has to be at least a few pictures for the newsletter." Her mother reminded picking up the last of the holiday cookies they'd made for the festivities.

"Fine but Charlie knows I'm keeping my phone, right?" Leah questions

"Yes, sweetheart he knows you'll have your phone." Sue nodes sharing a quick wink with Seth while Leah was distracted double-checking said device was safely tucked away in what passed for a hidden pocket in a vampire designed jumpsuit.

"Let's go already." Leah groans giving her elf encased refection one more once over giving her hat a more slanted tilt before finally accepting her fate "I have a vampire to torment with a fruit cake later."

"Rose?" Seth chuckled knowing that pure the agreement with the town hospital the Cullen's were going to drop by the town festivities.

"Alice." Leah corrects with what passed for a real smile these days. "What she was the one who suggested this stuffy outfit." She defends catching her brother's offended pout in the mirror.

The festivities went as smooth as ever Leah even making a few short videos to send to her brave soldier mostly from when Clair had made Quil sit on 'Santa's' lap to tell what he wanted for Christmas. She had to admit it had been amusing at least when the four-year-old had yelled at her and Seth for not telling her they helped out Santa Clause. She was sure her mother had gotten a clip of that one so Sky would be able to get some of the full effects.

Now however things were winding to a close since the younger kids had all been herded off to bed and still Leah hadn't spotted Jacob nor Nessie despite what she'd been told by Seth that they would stop by. Alice was still a no-show as well, so Leah hadn't even been able to playful threaten the pixie-haired vampire with eating a larger than needed slice of holiday fruit cake.

She wouldn't have gone through with it considering she knew how much the leeches hated having to pretend to eat real food, but it would have been amusing watching the more tolerable of the Cullen 'children' try to wile her way out of the arrange.

"You alright kido?"

Leah lets out a slow breath as a now beardless Charlie pulls up a chair beside hers at one of the back tables. "Jeez, it's like when someone takes their giant head off at Disneyland."

Charlie gives a half-hearted shrug as she continued taring the arms from the soft-baked gingerbread cookie Seth had put in front of her.

Sky could do this in her sleep. She's the warmest, Christmas spirited person I know.

"Anything I can do?" the kindhearted sheriff asks already knowing the answer. As he expected Leah shakes her head "Thanks Charlie but, I'm just not feeling Christmasy." It helped a lot that the townspeople knew her best as the cold, standoffish girl from the Rez so they hadn't seemed to notice her heartbreaking all over again each time she'd been forced to play the part of a Christmas cheer elf.

The broken cookie was pushed away while Leah drains the last few sips of the milk that had been brought with it. "I can see that." Charlie nodes taking a drink of his warmed cocoa. "But you never know. Maybe things will start looking up."