Part 8: Sudden Joys Have Sudden Ends

I felt the swift and delicate but cold fingers move over my leg, causing me to stir from my dreamless sleep. I opened my eyes to see Huilen taking off a second wrapping that I had not even felt her put on.

"Ness?" Jacob's voice echoed over me as I began to sit up.

"Slowly, Renesmee" She spoke, her long dark curls swaying as she moved. "The wound however is cleaned and fully healed. How do you feel?"

"No burning yet."

"Good, good." She said with a bright smile.

"You have been asleep for a full day." Nahuel voice spoke. I turned to see him standing in the middle of the room a wide grin on his face.

"I guess I needed it." I felt strange saying it. I never slept more than five or six hours at the most.

"You were right about the scar, Huilen." Nahuel eyes glanced from my face to my leg. I followed each of their gazes. There indeed was a white scar, a sizeable line etched from my knee to mid-calf.

"Battle wound." I shrugged my shoulder as if that was that. There was nothing that could be done now. They both seemed to smile, Jacob however didn't.

"Can you stand?" Huilen gestured towards the doorway.

"I think so."

I swung my feet over the edge of the leather cot. Jacob moved from the chair to stand by my side. Placing my hand on his steady shoulder, I placed my good leg forward first. Then I tried bearing weight on the other. It felt shaky but there wasn't any pain. Within moments I began walking, a few tinges of unstableness, forcing me to hold onto Jacob arms. He walked with me; his arms steady and firm as if ready to catch me if something were to go wrong. Step by step I walked on gaining momentum until finally I reached the middle of the clearing, the sun's rays warming my skin. It felt so wonderful to be outside again.

"It's good to see you up, Ness." Jacob muttered beside me. I turned my face to look at him, his dark brown eyes seemed more gold in the sunlight. I just smiled back at him.

"I'm famished."

I couldn't help but speak what my stomach and my mind were thinking as I glanced across the clearing to the luscious trees whose fruit hung ripe in the sun. Taking a brief jog, I found myself beside the edge of the lagoon within seconds. My leg felt more stable, burn-free, with each passing moment. I didn't feel up to cliff diving anytime soon, but was grateful to be almost back to normal. I broke off a couple of pieces from their branches. "Here you go." I exclaimed as I tossed one to Jake who was close behind me.

"What I wouldn't give for one of my dad's cheese steak sandwiches right about now." He mumbled as he bit into the nectarous fruit, the purple juice dripping down his chin. Jacob wiped it off with the back of his hand as he smiled.

"You miss him?" I asked noticing Jacob's gaze drift over me to the lagoon.

"A little, he's just getting older ya know." I watched Jake's shoulders rise and fall as he took a deep breath. "I don't know how much longer I'll have with him." His eyes found mine again, but they quickly darted away as he tossed the rind of the fruit into the overlying trees. I felt my heart grow heavier at hearing Jacob's words. "Do you, I mean if you feel up to it, want to come with me somewhere? There is a place I found that I want to show you."

Jacob took a step towards an exposed path ahead us. He waited for me to answer before he took another step. I glanced over my shoulder to see Huilen and Nahuel about their work, paying no mind to either of us. I took a breath and turned back to Jake.

"Sure." I said following his lead.

His pace was slow, casual, as if he was in no rush, which for me was helpful considering everything that had happened in the last few days.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked my curiosity getting the better of me.

"It's not too far, just a couple of miles east of here." Jacob called back to me over his shoulder as he ducked under a low-lying vine. He raised it so that I could pass easily underneath it. "I stumbled upon it on my run the other day."

"Is it a waterfall?" I asked inquisitively. "If so, I don't think I'm quite ready for another jumping lesson just yet." I jumped on and off a large rock in the middle of the stream as we crossed as if proving my point, when my boots hit the water it shot up forcefully sending a jet of water onto Jacob. I couldn't help but laugh at his surprised expression. "Sorry." I giggled shamelessly at the sight of him.

"You're going to pay for that one." His smile widened as he scooped up the cold water in his hand and within a second it found its way onto me. I shrieked and darted ahead of him, only to loose him in the brush. "Ness!" He called. "You're going the wrong way!" His voice carried over the trees to me.

"Promise no more splashing?!" I called back.

"I will if you will!"

"Fine." I said through a sigh as I retraced my steps until I caught his figure standing exactly where I had left him, his arms crossed, a slight boyish grin crossing his face.

"We go this way." He pointed in the opposite direction I had taken. I just smiled and followed alongside him, my pace matching his. "And just so you know, it's not a waterfall." He leaned and whispered over my shoulder. His warm breath caused a chill to run over my spine.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, moving easily with one another as we had done my whole life. It seemed normal, natural like this, Jacob steps just slightly longer, more in front of mine, his movements ahead so as to lift up a limb, or extend a hand to help me up over a rock or large tree root. It was fluid, like a dance, a dance neither one of us knew we had been a part of. Yet, now I did. I was keenly aware of his movements and mine, and I was keenly aware of how natural they felt, how easy this was, and that, that was the hardest part of it all.

"We're here." His voice shook a little as if he was nervous.

His fingers held the tip of a large branch from an overhanging tree. He looked at me and smiled deeply, his eyes catching mine, and then he pulled the branch back out of the way, exposing what had only moments ago been hiding.

I couldn't help but take a sharp breath from the surprise of seeing it. There a few yards away stood what I presumed was an ancient ruin. A large stone pyramid whose many steps ascended high above us, the sun's rays making it even harder to see the very top. I shielded my eyes so as to see it fully. There in all its majesty it lay deserted, my ears could not detect any movement, Jacob and I were alone. My smile widened as I took a step forward, out of the brush and into the clearing of overgrown grasses that continued until the pyramids base.

"I thought you might like it." I heard Jake exclaim over my shoulder as he followed behind me.

"Who do you think built it?" I exclaimed as I turned to look back at him.

"Aztec, Mayan, who knows?" He shrugged his shoulder.

"Their territory was farther north than Brazil. A separate tribe must have made this. Look at the way they carved the symbols into the stone in such a grand scale, the technology to do that, it's incredible."

"Aliens." Jacob stated plainly. "Must have been aliens, lazer beams, and power sources and everything, it's the only way."

"Jake!" I gave him a hard nudge in the shoulder as I laughed aloud.

"What didn't you see that Indiana Jones movie?"

"Why do we have to create fictitious reasoning for something majestic, why can't it just be extraordinary human unity at its finest?"

"So says the hybrid human-vampire?" Jacob laughed out loud as he jogged ahead of me towards the stone structure that rose high above us.

I stopped to glance up at the enormous structure, it took my breath away once more. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to see this being built, probably thousands of years ago. How many men must have come together to create it? For what purpose did it serve? The levels seemed to have been slowly decreased from the original thick stone base at least eleven times to form the pyramid structure. The top section seemed more like a four-sided house, with an exposed doorway. I glanced around me to see if there were any other structures, yet nothing caught my eye. Just this one grey stoned pyramid amongst the thickets of the jungle. Isolated and deserted.

"Come on, Ness!" Jacob waved his arm to catch up. "Feel like a climb?" The boyish grin returned to his face as he saw me sprint forward.

"First one to the top wins!" My voice echoed over the expanse of land as I brushed past Jacob and made my way quickly up the long, high staircase.

I got halfway before I had to stop, my left leg it seemed had had enough, the slow throbbing forcing me to slow down. Jacob had however brushed past me and made it almost to the top before turning back around to gaze down at me. I rubbed the scar as if doing so would somehow soothe what I felt underneath it. Within seconds he was beside me, his forehead wrinkled in deep thought and concern.

"You okay, Ness?" He mumbled as he kneeled down to take a look at my leg.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just went too fast too soon I think." I mumbled as I felt the tip of his fingers etch over my skin.

"Come on, jump on." He said with a smile, as he stood turning his back to me. His knees bent slightly prepared for my weight.

"Jake—"

"We're not quitting now." I sighed heavily and placed my hands on top of his shoulders with a slight spring I landed onto his back, my arms around his neck, his hands held my legs firmly. "This way we both win."

Jacob climbed the next half carrying us both higher and higher up to the top of the pyramid. To any other person this act would seem well worth a gold medal, but it was as easy as breathing to him.

Upon reaching the top, Jacob's hold loosened on my legs and I gently set my feet onto the stone ground beneath us, letting go of my hold around his neck. My eyes scanned the horizon, the jungle surrounding us on all sides, the trees blending into one large green expanse. I felt on top of it all, high above the world, looking down on something so beautiful, so majestic, that I found myself not breathing.

"Quite breathtaking, isn't it." Jacob said, and I knew this time he wasn't poking fun. He meant every word.

"Thank you for bringing me here, for showing me this." I said turning to him a large smile on my face. I felt alive again, like I had before perched up in those trees, watching the sunset. "Let's stay here for awhile."

"Okay." Jake simply nodded.

He grabbed my hand and led me to the opposite side of the pyramid, where only a ledge of stone floor kept us from falling. I walked closely behind him until he took a seat in the middle of the structure, his feet dangling off the edge. I sat beside him, taking his lead. I saw the sun lowering on the horizon; from this vantage point we would see it setting soon.

"I figured this was what you had in mind." He gave me a slight nudge on the shoulder and I just tossed my hair to the side.

"You were right." I smiled.

"I know you Ness."

The way he said it was factual, he didn't mean anything more than that, but the truth of it left a silent tension over us. I knew he hadn't meant to, and yet for some reason it still had that effect. I let it go, though. For the first time in awhile I tried to turn my mind and its barreling thoughts off.

I simply laid my head on his shoulder, as I had done so many times before, intertwining my arm with his and eventually our hands and fingers. I knew my actions were different this time, despite how many times Jake and I had been in this position before, I knew that this moment, the way I had done it, how I had done it, meant more. For the first time, I was okay with it, at least for now I was. I could feel the tension in Jacob's body relax completely; his heart rate became steady, his breathing slow and deep. He laid his head on top of mine, his thumb rubbing my hand gently.

"I needed this, Jake." I spoke breaking the silence that had passed between us. "I needed it to just be you and me, the way it used to be before…before—"

"I complicated things." He said through a laugh, its force shaking my whole body.

"Jake—" I lifted my head so that I could see his face.

"No, Ness, that's the truth isn't it? You wouldn't have run away if you didn't feel like I was pressuring you into feeling something before you were really ready." I turned my gaze from him back out to the sun, the colors deepening with each passing minute. "You know, I'm right."

"You've never pressured me Jacob, at least not intentionally." I laid my head back on his shoulder. "Well maybe the whole kiss thing was a little intentional." I smiled, and I was glad Jacob's gaze was on the setting sun and not my face, although I was pretty sure my cheeks were the same color as the red haze that glistened before us. I took another deep breath. "It was everything, Jake, not just you that made me need to get away."

"Tell me." I knew it wasn't a demand; Jacob's voice seemed too yearning as if everything in him simply wanted to understand, to know what was going on inside my head.

Silence drifted over us as I once again became lost in my own thoughts. I wanted to right then and there reveal everything that had been boiling inside my heart the last few years, the nightmares, the darkness that had seemed to cloud my mind. The fear of what might happen to him, to my family one day because of me. Yet, I didn't. I just nestled my head deeper against him and took a breath. I heard him sigh as if realizing that I wasn't going to say anything. I knew he wasn't angry, but I knew he was hurt.

"Ness, tell me what you need? How can I help you, what can I do to—" Upon feeling my hand squeeze his tighter he stopped and exhaled a large sigh once more.

"This, Jacob," I mumbled under my breath, a whisper that only he and the wind could hear. "This is what I need."

We didn't speak another word as we sat there watching the sun set across the jungle's horizon, we didn't speak another word as we watched the stars begin to shine in the black night's sky, we just sat there together holding on to each other not wanting the moment to fade. I knew for Jacob these precious moments were a hopeful beginning, but for some unexplainable reason I feared that it was more a painful ending.