The night was quiet as the girls laid on the ground in each other's arms. For once Leah was completely at peace with herself, her life and her imprint. It was surprising to her that it was so easy and liberating to hand over herself to Janet. They hadn't needed too many words to express or explain what had happened between them.
"Tomorrow will be the last day of training before the battle." Janet whispered without removing her head from Leah's chest. It fascinated her to hear her mate's heartbeat since hers had been silent for decades.
"I don't really want to think about you in battle. I know you have experience and are practically indestructible, but it won't stop my worry." Leah confessed as she put her thoughts into words. How was she supposed to describe something she had no experience with?
"I don't know if I will be able to stay by your side the whole time. No matter what we have gone through, I have always been by my father's side in battle. We are a team and I don't know how our bond will affect the way I fight alongside him. It's strange and hard to understand myself right now." Janet said as she rolled on top of Leah to look at her with her arms crossed over Leah's chest to use as a prop for her head.
"I understand completely. I don't really know how to understand what's all going on inside me right now," Leah said this but smiled as she ran a hand through Janet's golden curls, "But we'll figure it out together in the end."
Janet sighed contently and leaned her head against Leah's caressing hand. This intimate moment seemed like a dream that was too good to be true to both girls. The world could have faded away around them and they would have not cared. An acceptance of each other seemed to have set them both free. Leah was finally accepting that her imprint was a vampire and a woman as well. While Janet was accepting that the love she wanted from her father for all eternity would not happened but instead the love of her mate would be the all-consuming love she wanted.
Suddenly, a mischievous smirk came across Janet's face as she quickly straddled Leah whose face turned bright red. The look of shock and embarrassment on Leah's face caused a laugh to rip from Janet's throat. Leah quickly overcame her shock and decided to get payback by attacking her sides with her hands. Janet shrieked out a laugh and tried to pull away, but Leah grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close.
"You're a mischievous one, aren't you?" Leah asked when Janet had calmed down and leaned her head against Leah's shoulder.
"Sometimes" Janet giggled out and snuggled closer to her mate as they sat in the middle of the clearing happily content.
Jasper watched from afar as his little one sat snuggled up in her mate's lap with not a care in the world. He had been present since the moment Janet's laughter had filled the night air. It had been so long since he heard her let loose that carefree laughter. A sad smile rested on his face as he watched the two girls. Had it really been a century ago when she used to sit in his lap just to feel safe?
With a sigh, he decided to leave the two girls and prepare for his talk with his daughter or the silence that would encompass the house when Janet gave him the silent treatment.
Once Jasper got home he noticed the smell of dog and his defenses were instantly up. It seemed he couldn't get away from these mutts no matter what was going on. He wanted nothing more than for them to disappear, but he thought about the fact that his daughter was now bound to one of them. They would be a part of his life now as long as his daughter was in his life and since he didn't plan on pushing her out, he was stuck.
With a sigh of resignation, Jasper went into the house and found himself greeted by a joyful emotional atmosphere. This atmosphere was radiating from Leah's brother Seth it would seem. He was smiling as he stood in a room full of vampires and that shocked Jasper more than he showed on his face.
"Oh, hi there" Seth greeted Jasper who entered and went straight to Alice.
"Hello" Jasper grunted out for the simple fact that he was raised to be a gentleman.
"Well I better hurry home, or my mom will totally ground me if I'm late again. Thanks again for the food Mrs. Cullen and please let Janet know of what the elders decided. Bye." Seth said and started to wave and head to the door in a whirl of energy.
Everyone was quiet for a minute as they watched after the ball of energy that was the youngest wolf. Esme and Carlisle wore a small smile on their faces while the rest of the family just looked perplexed.
"What did he want?" Jasper finally asked and turned to Carlisle for him to answer since he was clan leader.
"He came to inform Janet of the decision of their elders to allow her to cross the treaty line as long as she is accompanied at all times. Also, to ask for the whereabouts of his sister since she is very late for dinner apparently." Carlisle answered in his ever calm and collected tone of voice, but Jasper could feel his worry and inquisition about the situation with Janet.
"Janet might not be coming home happy." Jasper admitted but did not elaborate anymore and then turned to head to his and Alice's room.
Once on the second floor, he stopped with his head down with a pit in the bottom of his stomach. Were the fights between his daughter and him going to start up again?
He let out a sigh and turned his head to stare at the stairs that lead to the attic where Janet chose to make her room for when she visited. It had been decades since he had set foot in her rooms. How had it changed? How had SHE changed?
In seconds, he was up the stairs and at her door that she never locked as he had taught her since youth. With a deep breath, he didn't need he took the doorknob and entered her room. It was a simple open room like the rest of the house. On one side, there was a slanted wall of windows that showed the wide expanse of woods. Then, on the other side is when it became a maze of things. There was a love seat facing a desk that was nestled between two giant book shelves.
The book shelves were over flowing with all sorts of books and knickknacks that she had collected over the years from the world. On the desk were some ribbons and other supplies she used to make jewelry. As he studied the items closer he saw that along the wall above the desk, Janet had put up photos. They were photos of her in all her favorite places and with all sorts of people that she had met along her journeys.
He reached out to get a closer look at a photo and bumped the desk causing one of the drawers to slide open. Inside he could see a colorful cover that rang in his memory, so he opened the drawer all the way and revealed an old photo album. The cover was made by a thirteen-year-old Janet. There was a tug on his heart as he took the album into his hands as if it would fall apart at the slightest touch. He ran a tender finger over the photo on the cover of Janet and him on the day he had given her her first horse riding lesson.
Janet was looking at her father as if he was the sun itself and holding her arms out to be taken down from the horse. All the while a blinding smile full of love and adoration was on her face. Jasper knew that if it were possible to cry, he would have been crying but as it were he pulled the album to his chest. It was like holding the memory of his little girl in his arms one more time. How long had it been since that day? When had she gone from that little doll to this full-grown woman? Would they ever be like that again? Would she ever look at him like that again?
Janet ran through the forest at a relative slow pace for a vampire as rain water splashed against her skin. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and her emotions were even worse. On the one had she was beyond happy with how her relationship with Leah was going. But on the other hand, she was nervous and confused about her relationship with her father. Had she over reacted during the whole Alice situation? Did she let her emotions and instincts take control again? With a heavy sign, Janet ran home and tried to prepare for whatever situation awaited her.
It was well past midnight when Janet reached the front door of the house, but she could tell that no one was home. Had they all gone out to hunt without her? Her father would not have left her behind no matter the argument they had.
Before the doubts and questions could invade her mind, Janet heard something that caught her attention. Someone was strumming a guitar from a couple of miles behind the house and the tune sounded familiar to her. She quickly ran towards the sound and picked up her father's scent easily. It was in the middle of the woods sitting on a large boulder that she found her father. He had a guitar in his lap and was strumming a tune that called to her from deep in her memories.
Almost in a trance, she went and sat by her father's side. He never stopped playing and they sat like that for what felt a long time. Suddenly, Jasper began to sing, and Janet was instantly transported to her childhood. This song was sung to her by her father many times as a child. If tears could fall, her eyes would be over flowing with them in that moment.
"One word, that's all was said,
Something in your voice called me, caused me to turn my head.
Your smile just captured me, you were in my future as far as I could see.
And I don't know how it happened, but it happens still.
You ask me if I love you, if I always will
Well, you had me from "Hello"
I felt love start to grow the moment I looked into your eyes,
You won me, it was over from the start.
You completely stole my heart, and now you won't let go.
I never even had a chance you know?
You had me from "Hello"
Inside I built a wall so high around my heart, I thought I'd never fall.
One touch, you brought it down
Bricks of my defenses scattered on the ground
And I swore to me that I wasn't going to love again
The last time was the last time I'd let someone in
Well, you had me from "Hello"
I felt love start to grow the moment I looked into your eyes,
You won me, it was over from the start.
You completely stole my heart, and now you won't let go.
I never even had a chance you know?
You had me from "Hello"
That's all you said
Something in your voice calls me, caused me to turn my head
You had me from "Hello"
You had me from "Hello"
Girl, I've loved you from "Hello"" *
They starred at each other for a long moment after Jasper finished singing and put down his guitar. Janet felt as if she would never be able to talk again because the lump in her throat was so large. A sob finally broke through her and she threw herself into her father's arms. They both wished in that moment that they could cry and share that moment to the fullest.
The forest fell into a peaceful silence and the two vampires sat in each other's embrace, both content to stay that way for the rest of eternity. Birds chirped, and crickets sang around them but did not seem to penetrate the bubble they had created. Janet breathed deep and was flooded with the scent of her father that she had come to identify as home. Jasper tightened his hold on his daughter and enjoyed having this moment with her.
"What am I going to do with you?" Jasper whispered into Janet's hair which caused her to chuckle.
"Love me?" Janet answered as she pulled back from his embrace to look into his eyes.
"Always" He promised and leaned in to place a sweet kiss on her forehead.
Janet sighed and closed her eyes as he father rested his chin on the crown of her head. There was a lot that they had to work out, but love was something was never something she would doubt ever again. If she stopped to think of all that they had been through, she would realize that all Jasper ever did he did for her. Even with Alice in the picture he still thought about her and struggled with his instincts every day. He was always struggling to put her in her rightful place in his life and, yet she never saw that.
"I'm sorry papa" Janet finally broke the silence and spoke the words in her heart.
"You have nothing to apologize for my little dove." Jasper replied as he took her face in his hands and took in the beauty that his daughter had become.
"Yes, I do papa. How could I have made your life so much harder for so long? I put you through hell more than Maria ever did, -"
"Don't ever compare yourself to that monster!" Jasper interrupted in a stern commanding tone.
"Sorry" Janet looked down as she always did when her father used that tone.
"My dove, you never have to apologize for the things you did in the name of love. If you did then I would have a lot of apologizing to do as well. I have lived the last century thanking whatever force brought you into my life. The struggles of a parent are never easy, but they are very well worth it in the end." Jasper explained as he lifted Janet's chin with his right hand and met her honey eyes with his.
"I can never repay you for all the love you have given me papa. Even when I was at my worst, you still look at me like I am that white dove you found all those years ago." Janet looked into her father's eyes as if trying to find some hidden secret that was a mystery to her.
"You will always be that what dove I found all those years ago my little one. Now let us not fight anymore. It breaks your grandmother's heart when we get like this." Jasper smiled down at his chuckling daughter and then pulled her in for one last hug.
"I love you papa. I promise that I will be more understanding and accepting of Alice. There is a lot I have to work on and I will admit I never did put in the effort to get to know her but since you have put so much into accepting Leah, its only fair." Janet promise with a small timid smile on her face. Jasper laughed out loud at her choice of words and ruffled his daughter's hair.
"Of course, its fair darling. Now let's go for a hunt and get some training in before we head back to the house." Jasper said as he nudged Janet off the boulder and deeper into the woods.
Leah sat on the roof of her house and starred up at the endless starry night. She was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had a girlfriend and a vampire out of all beings. A smile touched her lips when thoughts of Janet crossed her mind and it drove her crazy.
"ugh! Why am I such a love-sick puppy? It's just dating, it's not like I haven't done that before." Leah scolded herself while covering her face in shame even though there was no one there to see her.
"To be fair the last one was with a guy, so this is new" Seth said as he climbed onto the roof with his sister.
"Please tell me you didn't hear all that" Leah groaned out and laid out on the roof in resignation when Seth made a sound of confirmation.
"So, you guys are official now?" Seth asked as soon he sat down next to Leah who groaned again.
"Yeah, we are…which is good, right?" Leah asked with a look on her face that showed how scrambled her thoughts were.
"Of course, it is" Seth assured her and turned to give her his full attention.
"Then why do I feel like I just accepted the biggest challenge of my life and not love?" Leah asked in a frustrated tone of voice causing Seth to frown at seeing his sister so tied in knots.
"Because the best things in life aren't easy and since this is supposed to be the greatest thing to ever happen to you, it is going to also be the hardest. It will be the biggest challenge of your life, but it will be worth it." Seth explained with a small but sincere smile on his face.
"When did you become the wise one?" Leah asked after a moment of silence and turned to look at her brother.
"Well you know this head is more than for just this handsome face to rest on." Seth preened causing a laugh to come from Leah.
"Way to ruin it" Leah chuckled and nudged her brother to the side
"It's what I'm here for sis" He told her then turned and looked to the stars with Leah, both wondering what the future had in store.
A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait guys but I am back and I will try to update as much as possible. Love hearing from all of you please tell me what you think.
* You Had Me From Hello by Kenny Chesney