A/N: I'm spoiling you guys so bad this week with updates! What can I say? I'm in the writing mood! Please review! It keeps me going! I love to know what you all think.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

(BPOV)

Sue's house was full of of chatter through the night and when dawn broke, Sam looked exhausted from his research. He had stayed up all night, littering the kitchen table with old books he thumbed through in desperate search for some way to help bring Jacob back to us.

"Morning..." He muttered, as I walked by him, my eyes growing wide to see the dozens of books scattered about.

"Good morning." I replied.

"Not sure if it's a good one yet, but I'm hoping it is."

"Are you still meeting with the council?"

"Yes, albeit later than expected, but yes"

"Do you think they can really help him? Or is this a hail mary?"

"My hopes are high for them, but I'm not sure they can offer me anymore insight for Jacob than what I've already acquired myself so far." He replied, rubbing his eyes and taking a long haul from his coffee mug.

"Where's Billy?" I asked, noting another cup close to Sams on the table.

"He's out. Left about a half hour ago. A friend from the res picked him up. Didn't say when he'd be back."

I nodded to him in reply, seeing Sue round the corner with more coffee and pancakes.

"Bella, you must be hungry?" She offered, soon handing me an empty plate.

The thought of food alone made my stomach churn. I had far too much on my mind to try to stomach anything.

"No, thank you."

"Jacob wouldn't want you to go hungry, dear. Please try to eat a little something?"

"Maybe later... but thank you, really." I kindly declined.

Sue nodded and headed toward the hall, her eyes full of dread as she turned from us.

"I'm gonna check on him. See how he is. I'll be out in a few minutes."

We watched her retreat to the guest room without a second look back, my eyes welling up when she closed the door behind her.

"Bella..." Sam sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "-we'll figure this all out. He will come back."

"You don't know that, Sam." I whispered.

"I have faith that he will."

"Faith doesn't seem to be fixing him-"

"It can - Faith is the evidence of things unseen - don't give up hope. Not yet."

I went silent as he gathered up the many books and headed for the door.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Hopefully with some damn answers. If anything changes, Sue will have Seth reach me and I'll come straight here."

He offered me half a tired smile before parting on the last word, his eyes full of the same kind of dread as Sue's now.

I sat down at the table, reaching out for one of the books Sam had left behind. The cover of it was torn from age now with a picture of Jacob's mother serving as a personalized book mark. I sighed heavily when my fingers skimmed the warn photo of Sarah. Her beauty was breath taking and her smile as bright as the sun... so much like Jacobs.

"I wish you were here..." I breathed to no one in particular while I flipped through it. To my surprise, I learned quickly that this wasn't a book at all, but a binder full of letters from Sarah. All of them handwritten and dated. They were addressed to Billy and some of them went as far back as before Jacob was even born. My hand stilled when I came to the last section of it, seeing that the rest of the letters had changed and were made out to Jacob. My eyes filled with tears as I read the first one.

My Dear Jacob...

If you're reading this letter than my fears have come true and I'm no longer with you. I know your father doesn't believe my intuition is right, but I know something will take me from you and your sisters. I can feel it in my bones.

The thought of not being with you... to watch you grow, leaves me heartbroken. I wanted to right these letters to you so you would always have them to keep. I know you're far too little right now to understand all that which surrounds you... the greatness your life will show... the destiny you'll one day fulfill, but I can see it already. You were born to be a leader and a great leader you'll be. Your father hopes that your life will take a much different course and that you won't have to bear the burden he does now. He loves his calling but knows the great risk that comes with it. I suspect he will have to guide you through all of it when the time is right. It will scare you and challenge you at the same time. The very same way it did your father, but you my son, will be great. I have faith in you, Jacob.

If I can tell you one thing my sweet boy, it would be this, always trust your instincts and believe in the impossible.

I clutched her photo tightly in my hand and turned the page just as Sue came back into the kitchen, her eyes misty when they met mine.

"I see you found Billy's book."

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to-"

"Don't be, Bella. I know he wouldn't mind. Be very careful with it though. It means everything to him. Jacob doesn't even know it exists. Sarah asked Billy not to give it to him until he was grown... which - I guess has already happened."

"Do you think Billy will give it to him soon?"

"If he gets the chance to..." She whispered, placing a hand on mine.

"Do you think he would mind if I kept reading on?"

She shook her head and gestured for me to take it with me back to Jacob.

"I'll be sure to tell you when he comes back from town."

"Thank you."

Sarah had left this for Jacob for a reason. Maybe she knew what he would face long before he ever did. Maybe she herself knew that her son would need her help after she was gone and this was the only way she could leave a part of herself here with him.

These letters to him had purpose... They had to.

Intuition was a mysterious thing... why people get feelings... and what they really mean. I had always been a believer in them, in trusting oneself and I was almost certain that the book clutched tightly in my hand right now would give way to far more answers than the dozen Sam had dug through.