- Forks, Washington -

- Isabella -

There was a multitude of things Isabella Cullen - soon to be Swan once more - would love to be doing at that precise moment. Travelling in a car towards the small town of Forks, Washington was not one of them. If she was honest with herself, it didn't even appear on her top ten list of things to do, or the top hundred if she was being completely truthful. No, she would rather be anywhere but sitting in her father's cruiser and travelling to her old hometown. Forks, Washington. Probably the smallest town she had ever seen. And the cause of some of the biggest issues of her life.

It was reminiscent of the time she was seventeen, moving to Forks to help her mom. To give her mom freedom to be a happily married woman to Phil. And Forks was the only option the then naive girl had. She had wished to spend time with her father - even if Bella wasn't sure the words to speak at the time - but her whole life had changed with that small decision.

Some of Bella's memories were good, becoming friends with Jacob and others on the La Push reservation. Cliff diving in the summer, fishing with her father and his best friend Billy Black. Becoming friends with Angela and spending days planning their future. Those were the good times, the ones that truly mattered in the grand scheme of things. The memories she could look back on with a smile and a small tear in remembrance.

Yet, Bella could remember the bad times the most. Falling in love with Embry Call and then the ending of their relationship. Also meeting her now ex-husband and allowing him to control her every aspect and pull her away from everyone she knew and cared for.

At first, Edward had been a gentleman, befriending her after the ending of her relationship with Embry. Helping her with her schoolwork so she could get the grades she needed to attend university. From there Edward slowly worked his way under her walls, his charming personality and gentleman actions drawing her deep into his circle. His sister Alice became one of her best friends and his family welcomed her like an integral member.

Looking back on all of it now, Bella could see the warning signs as clear as day. The red flags all but swinging into her face, red flags she'd blatantly ignored. But back then, she had been too naive and too lost in the allure that was Edward Cullen. When they'd left to go to University, he had tightened the reins even further to the point she didn't make a decision without his say so, what she wore - who she saw, how she dressed. All of it was controlled by Edward or by Alice.

Even the marriage wasn't her choice, Bella had agreed to marry him when she was only nineteen years old. A far cry from the girl who swore she would never repeat her parent's decisions. She had been nudged into it with suave words and controlled moves. She thought it was love at the time, now she sees it as nothing more than abuse. She was lost in an abusive relationship and it had taken her years to climb out from under it.

First, it had been Edwards' argument over her job choice - teaching. For as long as Bella could remember she wanted to teach students, help guide them in their love for English. To find the same type of love that she found deep within the written word of a book. She wanted to nourish it and bring it to life and watch as the kids soared on the wings of their dreams.

Edward had other ideas.

Wow, she could remember the three-hour arguments they had almost nightly regarding her job choice and his opinions. The overgrown child in an adult's body believed that his word was law and as his wife, she was bound to follow it. Or so he believed but she stood her ground, she fought for what she wanted. She fought for the path she wanted to take and his suave decisions and outright manipulation wouldn't stray her from it.

Yet that wasn't his deepest crime, no that came in the form of what happened less than six months ago. Whilst going through one of their many 'we can make it work' periods. Bella had found out she was pregnant, the revelation was a shock and she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep the child. For days her mind had churned the knowledge over and over in her head. She was too young to have a baby, only just starting her dream.

She looked into adoption extensively - for she was certain she wouldn't have an abortion. Whilst she wasn't ready to be a mother, she was still pro-life. She'd told Edward as much and he seemed on board with the whole adoption thing, being adopted himself she was certain he would understand, certain he would stand by her decision to give their child the best chance at life.

A life that didn't include two parents who were too young to take care of them. But Bella should have known, his easy acceptance was strange, the dinner he cooked that night seeming out of place in the grand scheme of things given how normally the two were constantly at each other's throats. But she'd wanted to believe that this solidarity, this agreement over something so drastic was a step in fixing their relationship. A hurdle they were jumping together to fix what was slowly breaking between them.

But after spending the next two days in the hospital following that dinner - she found out just what his compliance cost. Abortion medication acquired from Edward's adopted father Carlisle slipped into her food. He had taken all forms of choice away from her, from their child. That alone was the last straw, the final step needed to remove the veil from in front of her eyes. Whilst in the hospital and free from Edward's interference she reached out to his adopted sister Rosalie and with the help of the blonde, was able to start the annulment process and get away from Edward and his controlling ways.

Bella hadn't wanted to involve anyone else, but Rosalie had been struggling to have kids for years and after her brother's treatment of an unborn child - an unborn child who was completely innocent - made the blonde who had once been her enemy the only choice she had to help her. And help her she did.

Bella was sure that without Rosalie running interference and arranging every detail that she'd have never gotten away. Edward was sneaky when he wanted to be, manipulative when he wanted things to go his way. But he had met his match in his adopted sister and in that moment Bella was extremely thankful for it. Even if she was now in a car, returning to the one place she'd never wanted to see again.

The place that birthed hers and Edward's tragic love story.

A soft snort flutters over her top lip as she realises it wasn't the only tragic love story that had been birthed inside the boundaries of Forks, after all, she had the tragic one with Embry. The summer of love that soon turned into a nightmare. His arrest sealed the deal and made her run in the opposite direction and straight into Edward's arms.

Over the years she'd been tempted to reach out to her father and ask how the Quileute male was doing, was it a masochist move or a pure unadulterated need to know, she wasn't sure what it was. Yet every time the words gathered on the end of her tongue, she stalled and instead asked after Jacob and Billy. Safe subjects. She was capricious in her need, changing between the two men she had loved. Well, they'd both been boys at the time she'd fallen in love with them.

Shaking her head and clearing out the memories she'd rather not think about, she allows herself to zone back in on Charlie, listening as her father fills her in on everything she's missed since she moved away. His soft monotone voice filling the car and seeping deep into her skin. She had missed him, far more than she could ever voice and once more she could feel anger blooming at Edward. Anger for allowing him to pull her away from her father.

But she wouldn't make the same mistake again, Bella was determined that from here on out she would try and be the best daughter she could be. She was twenty-six years old and the last eight years of her life she had been someone she didn't recognise in the mirror but she was determined to change that. Bella Swan would be taking her life back and that meant fixing the relationships that Edward made her break.

The most important being the one with her father.

Sighing, she turns to watch him as he continues to speak. His words barely process in her mind until he begins to talk about those down at La Push. Random information regarding Billy and Jacob, his dealings with the Clearwaters and the unfortunate passing of Harry from a heart attack. That one was hard to hear, she could remember the summers of sitting in a small fishing boat with the elder Quileute and listening to him make jokes at her father's expanse.

"Oh, Skylar's home. Skylar Ragnulf."

Bella didn't need her father to confirm the name, she knew who he meant. Her childhood friend and Jacob's cousin. The woman who taught Bella how to kick a guy in the balls and make sure he felt it, the girl who against all odds had gone into the military. A career that was far from normal for the natives of La Push. But fitting for Skylar who was like a loaded gun with a hair fire trigger.

"How is she ?" Bella's teeth sink into the corner of her lip after the question leaves her lips. Knowing it was way too close to the one she truly wanted to ask. "I mean. How is she settling back into civilian life ?"

Charlie licks his lips for a moment before humming. "She's doing good. Works at a garage with her fiancee Paul. I haven't seen her around too much so I don't know the details."

Bella once more snorts as she hears that Skylar and Paul were engaged, she would have guessed that the two of them would be married and well into their third kid by now. Or maybe that was the romantic side of her brain painting a picture she wanted for herself. Though despite whatever she'd just thought, she was glad her friend was still happily in love, even after all this time.

But despite the small smile that now fluttered along the edges of her lips as she makes a mental note to reach out to the Quileute female, she can see tension bleeding into her father's shoulders. His eyes now firmly rooted out the car window as he scans every inch of road in front of them. His chocolate eyes darting from every car license plate to the person driving it.

She could tell it was more than him simply being the alert chief, she'd watched her father as he was driving before and normally he would sit with a relaxed posture as he drove down the streets he knew like the back of his hand. But this, Bella, wasn't sure what it was, but something was slowly eating at her father and filling his every muscle and action with a need to act.

"You okay dad?" she asks softly, her hand coming to rest on his forearm as a frown wrinkles between her eyes. "Is something… is something happening?"

She didn't know how to voice her question, to build a bridge between them. Yet she still tries, before she'd simply shrugged off time with her father. Barely paying attention as he'd fill her in on his day and what cases he was dealing with. It had been teenage ignorance, yet now. Now Bella figured it was the only thing that could start the reparations between the two.

"It's nothing Bells, don't worry about it."

Her frown deepens as she drags the corner of her mouth between her teeth, a nervous tick she had and sits there watching his face. Whilst his words were delivered in a nonchalant dismissive way, Bella could easily see that this situation was anything but. It was eating away at her father, leaving an empty shell behind filled with exhaustion and regrets.

"It's not dad." she retorts softly. "I can clearly see it's something more. So tell me, who knows speaking about it might help you get some answers."

She waits, her teeth biting into the soft flesh of her lip as she waits for him to take the bait. To close his hand around the olive branch she'd extended before them in the cab of the police cruiser. The soft melody of the radio and their breathing are the only sounds that ring out as her eyes remain glued firmly to her father.

Charlie's sigh shows his resignation even before he begins speaking. "It's just. There's this illegal street racing crew coming out of La Push and I'm finding it hard to catch them. They're always gone before I can cuff any of them, I don't even know who the members are."

her eyes widen at the knowledge, a small part of her refusing to believe that those from the reservation would resort to something illegal and yet, the tone of her father's voice leaves little room for argument. Straightening out her features to hide the surprise that was no doubt projecting from her she reaches out settling her hand on his shoulder.

"Have you found any clues as to who it might be?."

Charlie's head shakes as he brings a hand up to run through his salt and pepper hair. "No. They're smart and cover their tracks after every race. Even when we pull up at the finish line, all we see is tail lights before they've disappeared into the dark never to be seen again. That is until the next race."

The silence stretches between them as Bella finds she doesn't know the words to say. I'm sorry, felt like a kick in the teeth as well as a not so subtle jab at her father's failings. On top of that, she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that this racing crew operated out of the reservation.

She knew nearly everyone there and whilst a few had indeed been a huge fan of cars, none showed any signs of becoming criminals or members of the illegal street racing world. But it was just another reminder that you never truly knew someone, what they showed you on the outside was nothing more than a shiny veneer to hide the ugliness that hid inside.

Turning to look out the window she lets her mind wander as the car eats up the final miles remaining of their journey. Her imagination runs rampant as she tries to imagine just who would be a part of something so criminal. The natives of La Push weren't known for being criminals, rather they kept to themselves. The most you'd find one of them being arrested for was shoplifting or fighting. Paul Lahote was a perfect example of that one, the tall male having spent far more time in a cell than at home.

Though for all Paul's faults, she didn't imagine him being a criminal street racer. She couldn't imagine any of the Quileutes, as criminals. It seemed completely out of the norm for them. Or maybe Bella just didn't know them as well as she thought she did.

All too soon the sight of her childhood home stretches out before her, apprehension burning deep within her veins as she looks over the house. Nothing much had changed in nine years and it still stood as it always had. The white wood of the house shined dimly in the early afternoon sun and despite her previous reservations, she found herself drawn to the sight of her old house. It was the place of good memories and the location of where she had fallen in love twice. Even if both love affairs had ended badly, they had been good for a time.

A sense of deja vu settles over Bella as she heads inside the house and to her old bedroom, the vision of it bringing a light sheen of tears to her eyes before she pushes them away and begins to unpack. Just like when she was seventeen, Charlie doesn't hover and instead she could hear the low volume of a game coming from the television in the living room. It was almost beautiful in its familiarity.

Once she's stowed her meagre belongings away inside the closet and the chest of drawers and sorted out the ones that need washing, she finally allows her chocolate gaze and hands to examine in the room. The walls were still covered with the same pictures and posters they'd always been. Her fingers lightly tracing over a picture of her and Embry on first beach. In the background, Paul and Skylar could be seen making fun of the pair and Bella can't help but laugh at the memory.

There was a large scattering of pictures with Bella and Jacob Black, his childish innocence pouring out of the captured memories and wrapping around her like a blanket. He had always had a positive effect on her, her best friend and sun in the darkness. She knew she had broken his heart when she didn't return his feelings but she couldn't help who she loved. Nor could she help the direction her story ended up taking.

Shaking her head, she lets her eyes drink in the other pictures. All of them were full of the Cullen's and were the perfect picture of happiness. Yet standing there and looking at them, Bella can see them for what they truly are, fake. She had once thought the family was the epitome of perfection, familial love and the way she wanted to be. Now, she wanted nothing to do with them. Nor the memories that the pictures evoked the longer she stared at them.

She needed a fresh start.

With meticulous fingers, she pulls all the pictures free of their pins, the corkboard beneath slowly becoming visible as she stacks the memories into small piles. Her eyes barely glancing at the moments frozen in time as she completes her task. Soon all the memories of the Cullens are free, leaving only those with the La Push natives and her old school friends pinned to the board. The removal of the others freeing others from the background and Bella grins as she finds one with Skylar and herself, the two covered head to toe in mud from where they'd been messing around in the front garden of Billy Black's house. Paul had taken the picture after he'd spent a good five minutes laughing at the mess they'd gotten themselves into.

The cold she'd gotten from that day that lasted a good fortnight and the cough an extra week after that, was worth it.

A small part of her wished she could return to being that girl, carefree and full of laughter. Her chocolate eyes shined with a light that teen Bella believed couldn't be extinguished for it had been put there with the laughter and love of friends. Of course, things had soon changed and now, her eyes were dull in comparison to the teenager she looked at. Yet Bella was resolute to change that, to regain laughter in her life once more. To find some correlation between the girl she was before heartbreak and the woman she was now.

Holding the pictures firmly in her hand she heads downstairs, her steps careful as to not trip on the flooring as she's known to do. Finding her father in the living room she can all but taste the agitation bleeding off him, as though simply sitting in the chair and focusing on the game was the hardest thing he had to do. His fingers tap idly against the cushioned arm and she can see his leg bouncing lightly.

Her father had always been a stoic picture of patience, rarely did he get riled, yet Bella could see right now. That he was beyond riled. An energy was pulsing through him that he was struggling to contain. He wanted to be doing something or more importantly, he wanted to be chasing down the elusive street racing crew that was driving him insane.

"Dad?" Bella murmurs quietly as her sock covered feet come to a stop just behind the couch, her eyes staring intently at the amped-up figure of her father. "Why don't you head on out and see if you can't find some new intel on the racers."

Her words are offered as an option but she can easily see the need to do just that began to settle over her father's face, his emotions changing minutely as he turns to look at her.

"Bells, you sure?"

She chuckles softly as she nods. "Yeah, dad I'm sure. We both know you'd rather be doing that. Plus I might just set out a load of washing and turn in early. I'm tired from the drive."

Normally Bella couldn't lie to save her life but luckily there was a small shred of truth wrapping itself around her words. Whilst she was tired, she wasn't tired enough to sleep. Instead, she wanted a moment's peace to lay her past to rest and set her new game plan in motion. But more than that, she was doing this for Charlie. She couldn't be selfish with her father's time when she could see this was something he was dead set on.

She was done being selfish.

"I'm sorry Bells," Charlie comments gruffly, his sad smile hidden beneath the shadow of his moustache as he comes to stand beside her. "I really was looking forward to spending time with you."

"It's okay," she retorts, shrugging her shoulders delicately. "It's the casualty of having such a diligent chief of police for a father."

She smiles before leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, her steps nearly faltering as she steps backwards and out of her father's path. The two had never been good at emotions and it showed in the tinge of awkwardness that bled into the air as she watched him get ready. Neither completely sure what to say now that the moment had passed.

She waves nonchalantly as he heads out the door, her lips finally releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding as she turns and heads towards the back door. The pile of photographs still clutched between her fingers felt like a lead weight, both in her palm and in her heart. The weight of the emotions contained within, frozen in time.

Heading outside and towards her father's grill, she sets about lighting the fire and making sure as to not burn herself in the process. Her steps are slow, almost mechanical as she watches the way the fire curls over the coal and begins to grow in intensity. The beauty of the fire striking her dumb for a few seconds, it was both deadly and beautiful.

Just what she needed.

Releasing a deep cleansing breath Bella drops the pictures into the heart of the flames, her chocolate gaze set firmly on the flames as they lick across the images, charring, burning, swallowing whole her memories in a flash. A small voice in the back of her head screamed that she look away - and not witness what was happening - and yet it was like a trainwreck she couldn't help but watch unfold.

So she did. She continued to watch as the pictures burned and swallowed every inch of the photographs. The beauty frozen within them was tarnished by something that couldn't be contained nor beaten. She watched as the immature child she had been was swallowed by the flames to never be seen again.

"Rest in peace"

Her words whispered into the air and yet she could feel the release of weight against her heart, her eyes watching her past burn away as she let go of the resentment and pain that resided internally. Bella knew it wasn't gone completely and that burning a bunch of photographs didn't mean she was cleansed of her past. But it was a good enough foundation for her to work with, to become something, someone that didn't depend on someone else for their happiness.

Someone who would laugh once more without having to fake it. Heading back inside she hums softly to herself as she sets out to do some laundry and work up the beginnings of tomorrow's dinner. She felt like spoiling her father for not only putting up with her once more, but for always being by her side. And who knows, he might need it if the racers once more slipped through his fingers.

- x -

A / N: Reviews are love and highly appreciated- So I'm glad you guys are enjoying this so far. Now as I stated this is a reworked story. But the difference is, it's undergone a huge change since it's original incarnation. So whilst the plotline is sorta the same, as is the ship. There are whole new elements that I've included, people I've dropped and some I've added. So if you read the original, you probably won't recognise it now.

But either way, hope you enjoy this chapter. And your feedback is amazing and I love reading them. Also, this one will have slow updates - so be prepared for that.