Chapter 6: Destiny

The night did not feel long enough for Tara. She and Jacob whispered and laughed, and eventually she let him sleep. The rough hammock felt like a cocoon of safety as she lay within Jacob's arms, absorbing sensations she had thought were reserved for the afterlife. Can it really be like this under heaven?

He said that she was his salvation. She had tried to save people many times in her past as a human. She had reached out to those in need over and over, only to find that it ripped out a tender part of her. By the time Bella found her, she was a shredded, spent mess, with nothing more to give. I barely had enough hope to take her hand and leave my porch, she thought. The sense that something was out there waiting for her had given her limbs enough strength to rise. Was it Jacob waiting for me?

She nestled deeper into his warm arms, feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he slept peacefully. Her body tingled where it was pressed against him, and she slowly inventoried herself, inspecting the sum of her parts. Her limbs felt strong. Even in relaxation there was a latent energy within her. Her silent heart felt whole, but she doubted its strength. The vampire venom is supposed to make my physical shell nearly indestructible, but it is my heart that needs protection, she thought.

Wallowing in the throes of self-doubt, she remembered when she had heard Jacob's voice in her mind, and the cry of the girl in distress. She had responded with a confidence that allowed no hesitancy, instinctively moving to meet the need and feeling the power within her. What did this venom do to me?she asked herself,checking her heart for the answer. When the answer came to her it made her rejoice. It has strengthened me to heal and connect without destroying 'me'. I can care for the lost souls, and I can trust Jacob.

As the sun rose, Tara watched Jacob's face. The dark crescents of his eyelashes curled gently, his high cheekbones were washed in the innocence of relaxation. Suddenly, she was looking directly into warm brown eyes that held a hint of worry.

"Good morning," she said, pressing her lips to his. "I would have gotten you breakfast, but I seem to be a little tangled."

He flashed a smile. "I can catch my own breakfast. You stay right here," he urged, but Tara was already extracting herself from the hammock. She stood and stretched, running her hands through her hair and easing out the tangles.

"I think I will head up to the Cullen house. Bella mentioned there are some clothes for me there and I want to see how she is doing."

Jacob had been watching her in amusement, his eyes lingering on her face, but his expression hardened when he heard her words. He rose and moved restlessly around the clearing, picking up a stick and throwing it hard against a tree. Tara was surprised at his reaction.

"Tara, you don't need to go up there. You can come home with me. Your life isn't really with them, you don't really belong. You aren't a bloodsucker," he said fiercely.

The words hit Tara in a soft place in her heart. The sense of rightness and equilibrium that had come from the night with Jacob was disrupted. He saw the pain in her eyes and instantly softened.

"I'm sorry. I just meant you should be with me. I can protect you. I don't know about them."

Tara pushed back the waves of hurt. "Jacob, they believe I have some kind of destiny, and I owe it to myself to explore that. There are people in pain out there, people who are feeling like I felt, before… before…" Before I met you, she thought, but she was not brave enough to say the words aloud.

"Anyway, if Bella thinks I can help some of them, I have to try."

He didn't answer.

"Besides, I'm dying to see my new wardrobe," she joked, hoping to lighten his mood.

"You look great now," Jacob said, somewhat sulkily. Then he relented. "I'll walk you back."

"I'm a big girl, Jake. I'll see you later."

She ran her hand down his arm, touching her fingertips lightly to his. The slight contact heightened her physical awareness and she felt a pull in her throat towards the vital beating warmth of him. She wanted to throw herself back into his arms, but she forced herself to pull away, then turned and followed her trail back to the Cullen house. Jacob just stood there and watched her go.

Tara found Edward waiting for her on the front porch.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, wondering how much he knew. "Are you getting any better at reading my mind?"

Edward gave a little half smile and looked up at her. "I know you're worried about Bella, but anyone with eyes could see that… she is doing better." He clenched his long elegant hand into a fist. "That man she killed was a monster," he said. "The two of you rescued that girl."

Tara considered his words.

"This might sound cruel, but I don't think Bella was concerned with justice. Her emotions were out of control, she reacted like she was the one being attacked. Do you understand what is happening to her?"

Edward's answer was thoughtful. "I may understand better than anyone else could, being able to read people's thoughts creates an odd kinship. There was a time when I couldn't distance myself from the emotions of victims." Edward looked disgusted with himself and Tara could tell he didn't want to discuss his own past further.

"So Bella can read minds now?"

He shook his head. "I think her shield goes down around you because you are so open to her. Without its buffer she is adrift in her emotions." He paused, knowing his words hurt Tara. "Yes, it is painful for her, but she would make that sacrifice a thousand times over to have you."

Tara's heart broke for Bella's pain and she wondered why Bella would be willing to sacrifice so much for her.

"Can I please go see her?"

"She'd like that," he answered, smiling.

They walked to the cottage. Bella was in the bedroom.

"Come in," she called in her musical voice.

They found her sitting on her bed, looking at a photo album. With the gauzy curtains of the bed as a backdrop for her beauty, Bella looked like a pensive angel in a renaissance painting. Her eyes lit up with joy at the sight of Tara and she slid over, patting the bed beside her and holding open the album.

Edward ducked out of the room, saying, "I'll leave you two women alone."

Tara sat down beside Bella and looked at the photographs. She immediately recognized Bella as a young girl. A pink pointed birthday hat clamped on top of her curls and she was blowing out the candles on a cake.

"It looks like you had a great family," Tara said a little wistfully.

Bella looked at her. "How about you?"

"Oh, my family was fine. I don't have any siblings. I was adopted as a baby when my parents were pretty old. They couldn't have kids of their own. They both died in the last few years. I'm an orphan now." As she said it, she realized it sounded pathetic. Poor me.

Bella didn't say anything; she just slowly turned the page on the album. The next picture was a close-up of a lovely woman. She looked slightly embarrassed at having her picture taken. She was tucking her brown hair behind her ear, a little smile curved her full pink lips and the light caught her green-gold eyes. Tara gasped at the familiarity of the face and those eyes… the same eyes she saw every time she looked in the mirror.

"Who is that woman?" she questioned urgently.

Bella deliberately shut the album and set it aside. She knelt, facing Tara on the bed.

"She's my mother."

Tara's mind raced, but she was already leaning into Bella's waiting arms when her brain confirmed what her heart already knew.

"Sisters," she whispered.

The two women crushed each other in an embrace so powerful it was fortunate that they were both unbreakable. Tara felt replete and saturated in a sense of belonging. After the night with Jacob, she didn't know how much more joy her heart could hold. She pulled back and looked into Bella's golden eyes.

"Tell me everything."

Bella told her about Charlie and Renee, watching her closely for reactions. Tara's heart was full of sympathy and forgiveness when realizing that Renee and Charlie painfully made the choice to give her up for adoption.

"Would they want to see me?" she asked hesitantly.

Bella paused, considering, before she answered. "Renee lives in Florida. I don't see her much, but we correspond. Charlie lives nearby…. he has seen a lot of things in his life, of which I am not nearly the most bizarre. Remember, he hangs out with the Quileute wolves and his granddaughter is a half vampire. He is the one who told me about you, and he was thrilled I found you. We didn't think you'd be ready to see him yet. Young vampires usually have no control over their thirst. Let me talk to him first. It will be soon, I promise."

There was a knock on the front door of the cottage and both women looked up, startled.

"We never get visitors here," Bella said. It was raining steadily and the sky was an ominous gray that promised more to come.

Bella opened the door to see a girl of about 16. Her hair was wet and slicked back from her upturned face. White blond brows were drawn together in concern over pale blue eyes. Her blue raincoat extended nearly to the hem of her shorts and she had wrapped the bright fabric around her slender body, her arms overlapped protectively across her chest. The uniformly slim columns of her pale legs were punctuated by knobby knees.

When she saw the two women her resolve seemed to falter, but she steeled herself and addressed Bella, "Doctor Cullen said I could find you here. I remember seeing your face before I passed out. I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."

Bella tried to ignore the delicious scent that tightened a band around her throat and sent dry prickly longing into her chest. She imagined the soothing, hot wetness of blood on her tongue, and she was glad that Tara was in the room.

"Of course, how rude of me, please come in out of the rain," Bella said, opening the door wider.

Sarah entered the cottage and sat down on the easy chair Bella used for reading. She hunched slightly, studying her purple painted toenails. Her feet in their sparkly flip flops looked vulnerable to Bella and she quickly looked away.

"I'm Tara and this is Bella," Tara introduced them.

The girl nodded and picked at her thumbnail. Bella felt uncomfortable and agitated. Her throat burned and she was acutely aware of the girl's heartbeat, which was racing.

What would possess Carlisle to send her here? she thought, wondering if she could control herself. A sweet taste was in her mouth and the room felt cramped, she hadn't felt a bloodlust like this since she was a newborn.

Tara smiled gently and knelt down, placing her hand on the girl's. Bella saw the young girl relax her shoulders and seem to blossom. Her nervous hands stilled, she sat up straighter and a smile spread across her face. She's quite beautiful, Bella thought and then realized that it was Tara's special power making the girl open up, let down her guard and show the beauty within.

"My name is Sarah," the girl said, swallowing thickly as her eyes grew shiny with tears. "I'm sorry, I was careless. I shouldn't have been out there alone." She covered her face with her hands, shoulders shaking with sobs. "He was too strong, I couldn't fight."

Tara rose and drew Sarah up with her, holding both her hands. As Bella watched, it seemed as if a flow of energy passed through the two women. Sarah's skin flushed and Bella felt a wave of warmth, like a breeze had played over the embers of a recently hot fire. Sarah clasped Tara's hands with a strength that turned Tara's skin white.

The feathery, rapid pulse of Sarah's heart slowed and seemed to strengthen. Her eyelids fluttered shut and a smile of such radiance lit up her face that Bella was reminded of Renesmee as a child. We are all connected.. Sarah, Tara, Jacob and others, connected in a web with Tara at the core, Bella thought. The siren's song of Sarah's blood suddenly held no appeal for her.

"Together we are strong," said Tara, gently squeezing Sarah's hand.

"The strength is within me," Sarah's voice rang out pure and clear, full of confidence and joy.

She hugged Tara and then moved towards the door as if in a dream. Bella's hand shook as she opened the door, carelessly ripping open the wood from the frame. Sarah, still in a daze, didn't even seem to notice. Outside, the rain continued to fall steadily, tapping its cadence against the leaves of the surrounding woods. Tara and Bella waved to Sarah, remaining silent.

After she was gone, Tara turned to Bella. "Did you feel it too?"

Bella nodded. "I felt connected to her, like some power was flowing through you. Do you know what you did?"

Tara shook her head, her green eyes wide. "I heard her soul and I answered it."

Edward appeared silently in the doorway, where he paused, rain running down the planes of his cheeks and the back of his neck. He looked at the door hanging at an odd angle from the frame and then at both of them. Bella opened her mouth as if to speak, and then shut it again, her eyes wide.

"I may have found my destiny," Tara said, finally understanding that the connection she had felt with Sarah was not commonplace.

Edward was sure she was right.