Jeebus... I just watched The Elephant Man for the first time. You want depressing? Forget Black Swan. This shit will have you bawling.

Ten: Returning Home

It was strange, going back to Forks. Her life had been changed so drastically during the past month – or had it been a year? – that Bella almost found it difficult to go back. She knew that it was a futile trip. Her fate had been sealed long ago. There was no point in returning. But she couldn't leave her life behind without seeing her father one last time. Without seeing her friends. She wanted to taste a freshly made apple pie again. Wanted to smell the morning grass after a fresh batch of rain had run over it the night before. She wanted to live one last time. It was nighttime at the moment, and Edward was carrying her above the trees, hopping from top to top, heading towards the home she was to leave by the end of the next month. Thirty days she would have in Forks until she was set to return to the Cullen home, permanently. There was already a plan set up in order to fake her death. To simply go missing again would be too much for the others to bare.

Edward landed gracefully in the oak tree just across from her home. The porch light was on. How late was it? How early? Bella's heart jumped into her throat as she quickly jerked her eyes towards the driveway. A sudden relief then replaced it as she saw the cruiser in its proper place. Her truck, empty and cold, sat beside it. This scene alone was enough to make her throat tighten. However, she kept her composure. Edward hopped into a shadow by the sidewalk, gently setting Bella down on her feet. She turned and smiled to him in thanks. It was a half hearted one at best. But Edward understood, and placed a cool kiss on her cheek. After one last, silent goodbye, Bella turned and walked forward, eyes locked on her old, screen door.

"Dad?" she called, almost feebly. It was silent in the house, though the light was on. She made it to the door, and peered in through the window. She could not see her father in the living room. The television was not on. Bella knocked, but no answer came. Just when she was about to reach for the hidden key beneath the mat, she realized that the door was opened slightly. Carefully, she edged the front door forward. It moaned softly at its hinges, but gave no other protest. A crinkle met her foot as she stepped inside. Papers. All sorts of papers were strewn upon the ground. Looking closer, she saw that it was police paperwork. Her name sat boldly on a top line, staring up at her.

Taking a breath, Bella continued inward. "Dad? Daddy, are you home?" Her voice echoed through empty rooms. Until, of course, she heard a faint snoring coming in from the kitchen. Silently as she could, Bella walked forward, and saw Charlie sitting at the kitchen table, his cheek laying flat against a row of papers and files. He was fast asleep, the bags beneath his eyes evident in the faint light above his head. Her face instantly filled with burning tears at the sight. She knew it. He never stopped looking for her, not once. Never paused for a moment of sleep. Always searching, always looking.

Bella had to stop herself from racing forward. Instead, she moved carefully and slowly, before kneeling beside her father, and gripping his knee. He showed no reaction, tired beyond belief, probably. After a moment or two, she stood and removed the pen from his loose fingers, her hand falling to the back of his head. "Daddy..." she whispered. Charlie's eyes began to flutter open.

There was a silence. His head lifted, a paper falling from his cheek after sticking there from the oil of his skin. Charlie Swan stared up at his daughter with disbelief and shock. Almost as though he did not believe it was real. Bella ignored her own tears as she smiled down at him, her hand cupping his rough cheek. "I'm home, Daddy," she said, her lower lip quivering. "I'm safe."

Without a second's pause, Charlie burst into tears of joy. Standing, he brought his daughter into his chest, crying against her shoulder. Bella squeezed with all her might. His body was warm. It melted her. She loved her father dearly. Sometimes, more dearly than herself, though she didn't exactly show it as often or as well as she should. Bella realized that now. She was determined to show him just how much he meant to her in the little time she had left. She swore it to herself.

They said very little that night. After the initial embrace, the two found themselves on the couch, Charlie unable to stop the onslaught of tears at the sight of his thought to be dead daughter, but he had grown quieter about them. Bella remained by his side until she heard his very light snoring. Bella looked up, seeing the sleeping face of her father. It was far more peaceful than before. Standing, she woke him up a second time only to get him to bed. Laying him down, Bella took off his boots and jacket, pulling a blanket up to his shoulders. As she tucked him in, his calloused hand touched hers. Bella paused and looked up to him, asking if he needed something. He didn't answer. Instead, he stared at her face, his lips parched and cracked.

"Please be real," was all he said. After that, his heavy lids finally dropped for good, and he was once more fast asleep.

Bella didn't go to her room right after. Because she was so used to sleeping during the day now, she sat on the edge of his mattress, holding his hand while he slept. He muttered slightly in his sleep, his fingers squeezing every now and then. Bella squeezed her hand right back. He had grown grayer since they last saw each other, especially around the edge of his scalp and his bushy mustache. Bella could remember loving to tug on it when she was a little girl. No matter where they went, Charlie always insisted that he give her a piggy back ride. She loved that more than anything else. To be high in the air, the sun on her face, her father's strong shoulders beneath her arms. They would get ice cream or watch movies or play all sorts of games in the park. All for hours on end, simply enjoying being together. All these wonderful memories... why now of all times did Bella decide to bring them up? She never realized how much time she truly had...

Her mind went back to the fights that they had in the past, and all the ways she could have avoided them. Had she ever made Charlie cry like that before? Had she ever made him feel inadequate? Unloved? An unfit father? Oh if she had, Bella would hate herself forever. She was lucky to have a man like that as her dad. If she had known then what she knew now, her life would be so different. She would have done so much. More importantly, she would have loved Charlie more than he ever deserved to be loved.

Charlie, who was always left in the dark about Bella's life. Charlie, who knew so little yet cared so much. Charlie, who only wanted Bella to be happy, even at the cost of his own happiness. Dear, silent Charlie, in the background. Helpless, but still always trying. Still always doing the best he could for as long as he could. Bella wished she could describe in words everything going through her head then. What could she ever do to make up for a man who had given her so much? Who had loved her unconditionally, and who had given her life?

Bella wiped her face with her spare hand, her other still clutched in her father's palm. That's when she noticed something. Something she hadn't seen in a very long time, it seemed. As she turned her head to the bedroom window, she noticed a gray blue change to the sky. Finally leaving her father's bed, Bella went to the back door that lead to the yard and stepped outside. The chilled morning air bit at every part of her body, but it barely registered. For as that gentle, innocent color began to spread, Bella could feel herself awaken. The sun was rising. For the first time in a month, she was seeing the sun.

Her feet began to take her from her home and back up into the wilderness. But she knew where she was going. The giant shadows and large trees did not scare her. Because she was following the sun. First, she was walking. Then, she broke into a run. She ran. As though she was going to miss the sun rise, she ran. Her legs pumped fire, her lungs nearly burst, but she could not stop herself. Finally, she skidded to a halt when she had no where else to go. She had reached a small cliff within the forest. Not large enough to die from, but big enough to see above the tree tops in front of her. And it was through these evergreen trees that she saw the sun start to rise.

It was slower than in most movies. There was no grand pinkness or celestial halo of light that one might see in a picture or painting. It was just... rising. The bluish gray began to bleed away the dark, spreading like slow, spilled ink. Bella spread her arms out to welcome the warmth, but none of it came. Not yet. She waited. It pushed its way through the pine needles, glowing brighter than anything she'd ever seen, until it had finally risen above the hillside. Bella could hear the call of the morning birds, could feel the earth beneath her move. The breath before her lips made just the slightest fog in the very early morning, though in all honesty she did not feel that cold. Even though the air nipped, Bella was warmer than ever. Back into the world of light, though not back for long. But she would treasure every minute, not waist a single second.

The wind ruffled her hair, and she turned back to see her house, tiny and miniscule behind the curtain of trees. After feeling a bit of sunlight through her hair, Bella decided to head back home. She walked her way through the back door. Charlie was still asleep. Closing the door so that he didn't get a chill, Bella shut all the shades, letting him sleep for however long he wanted.

Ok, ok, I know. Really short chapter. But it makes up for the long one I just gave you guys. Besides, this stuff is important.

~T.