A/N: Ok. I'm reading Tale of Two Cities at the moment, and I love Bleak House and Little Dorrit and all those soap-opera-y novels he wrote, so maybe that's where the style of the intro in that last chapter came from. Yes, random Dickens impersonation. Sorry. Tho I think I mentioned in the last AN that I just randomly copy writing styles for a laugh. So I hope it amused someone. I wouldn't write like that again for the world. And yes, in the end I did use a line from the gospel of John, in case anyone didn't know. Maya's a Roman Catholic, and that affects nearly everything she does in the story. I wanted to get that across.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the stories and songs in my head (and on paper, computer, and the Internet). Oh. And the original characters in same. Such as Maya.
"You know how hard this is going to be, right?" Jacob asked her as they approached the longhouse.
"I know, and I don't care," Maya declared, earning a warm look and hand squeeze from Edward. "It's got to be done; otherwise you guys will never get along."
"Just be careful," Bella warned. "People around here really don't like the Cullens." This earned a wry smile from Edward. "I know. But don't worry, I can smell anything they're planning a mile away." He sniffed. "Like the scouts they sent to see if you were really bringing me here." He turned to Maya, who looked puzzled. "See in the trees over there?"
Jacob caught sight of them and waved, more for spite than anything else. "Second cousins of mine. They're really old-fashioned." He gave a quick sigh. "Not everyone's willing to accept Edward, even if it's for just your sake, Maya."
Edward stopped and scoffed. "I'm offended." His face was serious, but the girls took one look at him and started laughing, and Jacob rolled his eyes. He quickly broke out into a grin. "What?"
Maya just hugged him. "See, this is why I want you all to get along. You funny Englishman." Edward chuckled, and, looking down, stroked Maya's hair for a moment or two before carefully pulling her away and letting Jacob claim her. Bella stepped in and clung to Edward, enjoying the nuzzle and kiss that followed. This was the scene which faced Maya's family when they opened the door to welcome her in.
The first thing Maya did was let go of Jacob, and sweep Elaine into a tight hug. "Oh, how I've missed you!" After a minute, she pulled back from, though didn't release, her grandmother, and faced the longhouse. "Everyone, may I please introduce you to Edward Cullen."
There was a collective gasp and indignant exclamations, as Jacob's second cousins brought up the rear. "How could you let him in? Don't you know what he is?! Get him out of here!" Several snatched at Edward's arms, but he snapped at them and hissed, only serving to further infuriate the Quileutes. Eventually, Jacob and Maya managed with effort to push through and get Edward into the room, to face the chief.
The crowd quieted down and watched the chief coolly appraise the young vampire standing in front of him from his place on the floor, not having moved a muscle since he came in. "So, you have come back."
"I have."
"And you've managed to take both Maya and Jacob into your power. Impressive."
"Maya was the one to reach out to me," he muttered. Maya heard, and came closer to him.
"Leave him, Maya," the chief commanded. "He's an enemy. His whole family is."
"But that was a long time ago," she pleaded. "Yes, they were hunting on our land, but they stopped when we asked them to." She laid a hand on Edward's shoulder. "And they're peaceful. Believe me." Edward gave her a faint smile, and pressed his cheek against her hand.
"Get away from her," Jacob's second cousin snarled, emerging from the crowd. Edward cut his eyes at him, and held Maya closer. "You're just gonna let him do that, huh, Maya? You like him protecting you from what everybody else says? Yeah, you like being alone with him?" A sudden fire blazed up in Maya's eyes, and she made to hit him, but Edward held her back. The crowd joined in the jeering, and she fought his grasp, strong as it was. Bella quickly stepped in to make sure Maya didn't hurt herself, and tried to soothe her burning pride.
"You think we wouldn't wonder what you were doing with Edward in that hospital?" His shouting grew bolder now, and his eyes were cruel. "Feeding him and his shameless family. How long will you submit to them?" He received a wrench on the arm from Jacob, but quickly pushed him away.
"There are poachers around!" Maya cried. "They can't hunt in the forest like they normally do."
"We were the poachers in the forest!" He reached out and tore Maya away from Edward. "We were hoping to starve them and make them go away, until you started helping them!"
"Let her go!" Jacob took Maya into his arms, shielding her from the savage crowd. "She hasn't done anything wrong. I've met all of the Cullens myself." Though met with a collective gasp, he continued. "And Maya's right. They're harmless now." He tilted her chin up. "I can even entrust my girlfriend to them, and always get her back safe and sound." Maya beamed, and unseen to them, Edward gave a brief echoing half-smile.
The crowd held back, and looked to the chief. The man's face was still tightly controlled, even while he watched Jacob, tenderly kissing Maya, throwing an arm over Edward's shoulders, calmly speaking to his still-infuriated second cousin, and finally turning around to face his judgment. By now, the arms had been folded, the set stare fixed on Jacob alone, and a seeming frown upon the lips that were to speak their conclusion. "For how long has she been doing this?"
"Has who been doing what?" Bella asked.
"Has Maya been… doing what she's been doing," the chief answered, the frown disappearing with a glance at the girl in question. A sheepish grin appeared on each face in the group. "Um, pretty much since she moved here."
"And why?" This question was directed at Maya, and in response, she quietly loosened Bella's hand on her shoulder to face the chief. Once more, two sets of dark brown eyes met straight on, searching glare with sweet tranquility; but this time, no truth was found. Maya looked away and spoke.
"I guess it's just because I don't want us to fight anymore. Our problems are past, and"—she looked over at Edward—"the Cullens are here to stay, for as long as we'll let them." He smiled softly. "It's wrong to continue with a grudge that's already been over and done with." She stepped towards the chief. "We had a problem, we fixed it, and we moved on. Shouldn't that be enough?"
The chief simply looked at her. So did everyone else. A minute or two passed in perfect silence, until eventually, he reached out and took her hand, chuckling very softly. "You really are some diplomat." Looking out towards the crowd, he asked, "Does anyone have anything of their own to say? I have no wish to keep up an old feud of our fathers, if the daughters and sons are willing to lay it to rest."
On hearing those words, Jacob's second cousin lashed out once more at Edward. "What did you do to her? She wouldn't be doing all this if you hadn't put her up to it!" Jacob held him back, and Edward laughed, a short bark that lost its humor halfway through, and approached him. "Look, I didn't know she was doing this until twenty minutes ago. I never did anything to bring her to me. You can't blame me for being friends with her, any more than you can blame Bella, or Jacob for being her boyfriend, or anybody who's ever met her. That's just how she is."
Maya colored and hid her face, but Bella smiled and nodded, knowing he was right. One by one, each person in the longhouse gave some sign of approval, until it was down to the chief staring at Jacob's second cousin, still in Jacob's grip, still glaring at Edward and about ready to beat the latter to a pulp if he were let go. After many people had tried to get him to calm down and acquiesce, and others had threatened him in some way or another to do same (his mother had tried both methods), Maya herself finally made an effort. She drew near him, and laid her hands on his shoulders. "Now—"
But he wrenched himself away and shot out of the place like a bullet. Maya held out her hands as if injured, and fell into Jacob's arms. "What's wrong?" she whispered.
He looked to the chief, who shook his head. "I don't know," he murmured. "I just don't know."
A/N: I think that's the first time I've ended a chapter in this thing where the air isn't really final. It's almost like I don't even know how to go on with the story.
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