Blue Moon
Disclaimer: This is a spin off fan-fiction story based on the TWILIGHT series written and completely owned by Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the mentioned characters or their personalities or characteristics. I only write for entertainment purposes, and appreciate Stephanie's beautiful mind which created this amazing story. Thank you, and enjoy. – Ciara
Retracing Steps
Written from Renesmee's and Jakes perspectives.
As if everything couldn't get worse. First, I have to deal with leeches looking for the one thing I wish was here… Then, this. I knew he was sick, but not this sick. My father had a bad habit of hiding his true feelings until he felt it was important to share. I just figure he didn't see it necessary to share the fact that he was dying… until it was too late. The doctor said it wasn't a painful death – he sort of just went to sleep, never to wake up again. They said heart attacks worked that way, just creeping up on you until it was too late. I blame all the fried foods he ate. It was no surprise that an important artery finally clogged up. I don't think I was entirely upset that he was gone, but mostly upset that he didn't warn me. When you're blindsided by something like that, it's not a clear cut path figuring out how to bounce back.
My sisters had come down for the funeral, bringing their families with them. They were very upset, so I had to play the strong foundation once more, a front easily accessible, but hard to maintain when people you care about are hurting. The pack was equally upset, I assume, which is probably why Paul had an outburst towards me in the parking lot. "I just don't get it Black! You're old man is gone, and you stand here stone faced, with no emotion. You know I could probably rip out your heart and you wouldn't flinch." The chatter around us from the pack stopped as soon as his words left his lips, my dark eyes focused on his face, body still. I'd never wanted to just cry as much as I had then, but I held it back. Paul seemed shocked at himself as well. He probably just realized then that every word he said was true. I wouldn't have flinched… or fought back. My heart was gone, and had been for five years.
The food, and the gifts, and the flowers filled our old home. I wasn't entirely sure what to do now, how to make my next move. So, I just sat quietly on the couch in our small but cozy living room, staring at his wheel chair, where it sat in the same old spot. The carpet was worn, where his wheels used to sit. Everything sort of blurred after that, a fuzzy mess of memories and emotions I wasn't entirely sure how to deal with. The time ticked by, fast, slow, I don't know which. But it seemed like only seconds. However, when I looked up at the clock, I realized it was almost dark, the first sign of sunset beginning on the surprisingly unclouded horizon. I stood slowly, and made my way from the couch to the fridge, searching for something to quench my thirst. The only thing I found was the few beers my dad had left, which we'd planned on drinking together this weekend for the game on TV. He loved football. I gave a glance over my shoulder to the tv, and back to the beer, seriously contemplating carrying on the tradition, but I was jerked out of my thoughts as Seth busted through the screen door, his motions frantic. I turned to him, my eyes searching his face as he panted for breath. "They… they're back."
The drive seemed to take forever… We had been given notice two days in advance of Billy's death and the funeral date, which meant by our watches, we would get back to Forks at nightfall, if not a little before. According to my Father, he could "cut that time in half" if he didn't care about coming off as normal on the way back to Washington. Mom said he'd always been a crazy driver, but then again it seemed to run in the family, being invincible and all. I'd slept several times, using Uncle Emmett's beefy shoulders as pillows in the backseat, finding them surprisingly soft for his hard nature. And with Aunt Rosalie constantly playing with my hair, it was no wonder I dozed off so quickly. My hair was a bit of a weak spot for me.
The time passes quickly when you're asleep, so when I got a jarring nudge from Uncle Emmett I knew it had to be something important. I groggily opened my eyes to find in front of me a mass of green as far as you could see, lit up by the quickly setting sun. We didn't stop on the outskirts of town by a gravel path everyone seemed to be starting at. Instead, we drove right through town. Several things I kind of remembered and things my mother told me about this place stuck out – like the police station, and that diner my mother and grandpa used to eat at all the time. The high school followed, and then the outskirts of town. This drive seemed to take longer, heading into thick trees and not being able to see much. I rolled down the window closest to me, and crawled over Rosalie, who responded with aggravation, and moved into the middle. The sweet, salty air of the ocean filled my nose, and I gave a gasp of air to release it, my lungs longing for more. We were home.
I didn't spend much more time breathing though, because something dark was darting through the trees beside the road, but father inside away from everyone else's attention. The more I looked, the more I realized it was not one form, but many, and big, dodging trees as they moved as fast as our car, if not faster, through the trees. My dad gave a laugh, and sighed. "Don't worry, they'll make friends with you soon enough." They had to be the wolves. We rounded several more bends, and the shadows disappeared. The faint sunlight of the sunset scattered over the land in front of us as we entered a cleared off space, with only a small house and a shed. I did not know this place… it was strange, but had an inviting warmth to it that I'd not expected. A boy stood frantically on the porch, yelling into the house. My father clicked off the headlights of the car, and killed the engine, but did not move out of the car. Mom gave him a look, and took his hand, kissing it before opening her door and getting out. The following clatter ensued when everyone climbed over me to get out of the car. Grandpa Charlie had followed us out here, but I'd not noticed because of the moving truck behind the car I was in.
A wet dog smell filled my nose as I moved to the door, and I paused. This was it… would this go well? I pressed my feet one by one slowly into the mix of gravel and sand under our car, bit by bit moving out of the car. The husky voice of a male caused my heart to screech to a halt, catching the breath in my throat. A man walked past the car, looked down at me, but did not stop as he approached the gathering group of people, oddly enough ones who were coming from the trees. "Hey… are you going to get out of the car?" My mother's voice rang in the silence, and it seemed everyone was waiting for me and me only. Then the male voice reached my ears again, this time melting my heart. "Nessie?" I regained my control over my body slowly, and stood up off of the seat, my head only just peeking over the car door. I wasn't very tall, after all. My bright eyes scanned over several tanned faces, all staring at me in shock, but none of them reacted like Jacob's did. He just blinked, and immediately fell to his knees. I didn't hesitate to run to him, my cool hands pressing against his chest, gasping slightly at the heat coming off of him. "I'm home Jake… I'm home." Pressing my nose into his hair, I inhaled his rich scent, and hummed softly. His body had not yet reacted to mine, but I waited. Tension rose in my father's mind behind me, but I ignored it. Now was not the time for him to worry about senseless things like me hugging my soul-mate… my Jacob.
I scrambled out of the house at Seth's words, the sound of a car and truck coming to a stop outside of the house reaching my ears. Stopping on the porch, I let the tears fill my eyes as I looked at that stupid shiny Volvo and moving truck behind it. In my head, Edward gave a chuckle. "Don't cry Jacob. You didn't miss me that much." I wanted to laugh, but I knew, or hoped, somewhere in that mix was Renesmee. Staring at the car as everyone piled out, I searched for her, but she never appeared. They were all there, but her… Was she here? My next thoughts went to Bella, who just before she left, had become like a sister for me. Hopping off the porch after pushing past Seth, I welcomed her into a hug, but her strength surprised me as she squeezed the air from my lungs gently. "Oh, sorry…" She added, her smile calming me slightly. "It's okay Bells." Charlie walked up with Edward about that time, and there were greetings passed there, my eyes focusing on Edward, a sly smile winding over my lips.
Bella turned then, and sighed. "Are you going to get out of the car?" There was a sudden inhalation in the crowd around me, but I slowly realized it was my own. "Nessie?" I asked, carefully, my eyes focusing on the only door that had been left open. At the bottom, two leather boots pressed into the dirt slowly, as if someone was thinking about it. Then, with slow movements, hair appeared at the top of the door. My heart pounded at frightening speeds behind my breastbone, thudding away loudly enough to make everyone in the crowd stare at me like I'd lost my mind. She rounded the door and closed it, her bright eyes scanning the crowd as she made her way to stand with Bella and Edward.
She was almost the spitting image of Bella, but much less so at the same time, Edward's features and perfection mixed in. The ripping of my heart dragged me to the ground, my knees pressing into the dirt only feet away from her. She was so close, all of a sudden; the only thing I could smell was her, my breathing ragged, my focus off. "Nessie…" I panted, placing my chin on her shoulder. She tensed, feeling something from behind her I guess, and then dug her fingers into my hair, humming my name, and that she was home. Tears filled my eyes, and I reached up quickly to wrap my arms around her, holding her close to me as I sobbed against her neck. This was so strange… so surreal. This was not normal. But I never wanted it to end.
But this movement was only accepted by the rest of the family, not Edward. There was a rumbling growl forming in his chest, the sudden tickle in my mind followed by his voice. "I swear to god, Black, if you so much as even try anything…" I found sudden ease in movement, and jerked myself to my feet, carrying Renesmee's petite form in my arms on the way up, only to release her. Stepping in front of her, which elicited a yelp from her, I glared Edward down, my eyes clouding up. "You'll do what?" I voiced out loud, and everyone tense. Edward gave a snarl, poking a finger into my chest. "I'll rip you limb from limb." Renesmee jumped between us, however, and I relayed a memory from such a long time ago of Bella doing just the same only a few days after I found out she was marrying Edward. I was tired of retracing the steps from the past.