A/N: I was chatting with author Mrstrentreznor about how so many stories can be formed from one single idea. We decided to each write a oneshot and after many discarded possibilities, agreed upon using the song "Blue Jeans" by Lana Del Rey as our muse for this individual project. It wasn't meant to be contest, only an exercise in creativity.
Beta'd by ShadowPast620. Banner made by Goldengirl2707.
Cut Out Clouds
The hand circled slowly across her back, a heat building up and spreading across her flesh in the otherwise cold room. His hands were underneath her clothing, something he rarely did and it excited her.
Lips, powdery and silky in their softness, whispered over her throat. There was no urgency other than the tension building up within her body. She didn't feel her hips pushing against the solid form, but the answering flex of a solid male flamed the inferno she needed to feed.
"Bella," a husky voice whispered from the lips now tracing the shell of her ear as she tried to grip his body tighter, her hands digging into taut biceps.
Her name fell from his lips in sexy casualness, the interest there but low keyed. Even then he had been handsome in his youth, not yet the man he was soon to become. Flickers of skin, smiles, places and feelings that were more precious than life itself volleyed behind her eyes as a strobe light of memories.
"Please," she begged, the images she couldn't focus on dimming into a reel of nothingness as she slowly awoke. In the frigid and snow covered landscape of the mountain, the sunlight shined brightly in contrast.
"Oh, Bells," he sighed with the beginning tinges of resignation.
"I'm sorry." Pulling away from Jacob, Bella's body missed more than the external warmth it had been providing throughout the night.
The man before her was perfect, the ruggedness of his size and muscles overshadowed by the kindness of his eyes and the smile on his lips. Jacob's soul was bright and vibrant, worn on his sleeve next to his heart and available for anyone who needed it.
He was human, unlike the Greek god Bella told herself she was in love with.
Edward, with all of his endless time, had perfected the epitome of being classically beautiful. Never once did Bella question if his aura was Edward, the lover, or Edward, the creature created to be whatever a victim desired.
Bella ran out of time to ponder why her subconscious pointed to one and her conscious demanded the other when Edward stepped forward to announce that the battle had begun.
Jacob waited last to say goodbye, needing to know that he had been the last one Bella would see in the event he was unable to come back.
"I can't lose you both, Jake," Bella cried, clinging tightly to Jacob's arms as he attempted to leave.
His heart, already cracked, broke again at the sound of her urgency, crumbling any resolve Jacob may have had to silently walk away.
"Kiss me!" he demanded. "Kiss me like you love me and only me and not like you think I'm him. I'm nothing like him!"
The kiss was more than Jake expected, Bella throwing herself into it whole heartedly, abandoning any reservations she may have felt about betraying the man she loved and the man she was in love with.
She saw it, the life of being warm and protected and her fingers flexed tightly against his scalp.
Successes and failures, as they laughed while drinking warm soda in his makeshift garage and he continued to laugh as he had to pick Bella up off the ground from her fallen bike, dust her off and help her get back in the seat.
Love and remorse, watching small dark haired children run around the porch; an older daughter being chased by a younger brother who stopped when his older sister tripped. Bella felt the boy's concern more than she could see it, the child leaning over to help. Both children turned to look at the forest as it swirled away back into Bella's imagination.
Her fingers lessened their hold on Jake, her body still pliant but no longer as seeking as it had been for his while her dreams stayed rampant. The mocking of Birthdays…would Jacob even age like the normal human she was and he wasn't? None of the tribe concerned knew how the wolf factor worked. Ten teenagers lived with it, dealt with it on a daily basis but every aspect was a surprise to the body it happened to.
Jacob slowed his movements, his tongue ghosting over her lips as Bella's mind wandered to the sadness of death. Would they die today? Tomorrow? Next week when another threat approached home? What happened if the threat bided it's time and came to Washington ten, fifteen years from now when everyone was back to being human and unable to protect themselves, all because Bella was the liability?
"Thank you," Jacob told her as he pulled away, his arms still wrapped tightly around the only woman he had ever loved.
"You don't have to do this," Bella pleaded once more with the man she'd always call best friend.
Jacob tenderly smiled, his purpose firmly imposed. "Yes, I do. That is my family out there, sacrificing their own health for yours."
"So let them, but don't go out there, too. You could…"
Die? For her? Bella didn't want anyone to sacrifice themselves for her to live. Her choices had been made long before this had come about and in the web of fate, she tried to control the debt required.
"Maybe when I come back, you'll realize that I would always die for you, Bella. I can't not go out there and let someone else fight a battle to protect who I cherish the most."
I'll be waiting, Bella thought unable to say the words aloud.
Packs didn't hunt packs, the upper hand in such a defense being the benefit of numbers. The war currently taking place was carnage; two vampires for every wolf. Where a seasoned vampire used cunning in such battles, the newborns used brute force, lacking the drive to pull back when injured on the brink of destruction and having nothing to lose.
Jake saw snippets of the Cullens fighting, each one a machine and only interested in self serving their individual preservation. He watched as a newborn attacked the blonde female Cullen, her mate seeing no hope to help her and fleeing to safer ground before he met the same fate.
Bella was going to be just like one of them. She loved Jake, he had felt that in their kisses, but it wasn't enough for her. He knew that and refused to accept the reality where humans chose the monsters over the saviors. A piercing pain to his flank and once more, Jake's thought were focused on the physical battle before him.
Grayish, purplish plumes of smoke littered the field, bodies stacked haphazardly as more fires were lit to destroy evidence. The remaining Quileute Protectors built a separate pyre to dispose of their losses as well. Unlike the vampires, the wolves would not disintegrate into nothingness. The men who died heroically would be mourned at a later date when select members of the tribe came back to grind the bones into powder.
Jacob rubbed his eyes tiredly, distressed they had lost some of their own people. A tiny place in the back of his head reminded him that his Bells was safe and that he had been one of the fortunate to survive. Moments later, when Edward appeared at his side to whisper frantically, the only thing Jacob could concentrate on were the remaining obstacles to keep Bella safe.
And maybe to keep her as only his.
"Where are the others?" The first words Bella spoke when Jacob made his way back to the protected area of her tent. He was relieved that the battle was over and feeling more tired than anyone had a right to.
"Edward had all the wolves leave. With the Volturi showing up for a confrontation." Jacob stared at Bella in a trance.
"I should be there! I need to be there, they'll want to know where I am," Bella insisted, constantly trying to peer around the man in front of her.
"Edward is going to tell them you are safely hidden elsewhere. They won't think it odd that he hid you away for the battle that took place."
"But he's okay? And the other's? Did anyone get hurt?" Bella pleaded to know as she wrung her hands
"You mean the Cullens?" Jacob asked, his voice devoid of emotion. "They're fine," he lied, the line of right and wrong blurring into a mist.
Three of his pack mates had died, but he could see where Bella's thoughts were, centered on creatures who were already considered dead and not on the living, breathing ones that had put themselves on the frontlines of battle to protect her.
"Edward wasn't hurt?"
"No," Jacob answered, holding his arms out to allow Bella to feel comforted, her cries and tears triggering the grenades of pain Jacob had spent burying under disillusioned clouds of comfort. Bella was his life. And to her, he was still just a friend.
"When can I go back?" Bella finally whispered as she wiped away remnants of her crying.
Jacob wasn't really listening to Bella's words, his mind a million miles away and stuck on her meanings. Bella thought she loved Jake and maybe she did in the way of friends. Sinking to the ground, he sat with Bella in his lap and facing him.
"There's a legend our people have," he murmured softly, staring blankly away from her. "An eagle was flying with his mate, their love stronger than any either could imagine. The male loved his mate and protected her from anything, helping to build their nest when weather took it out, hunting farther than any of the others when food was scarce and always feeding his female first before he took what was left for him.
"They soared the area for days at a time, a magnificent sight to all of the others creatures who watched them and could see the beauty and pureness of their love.
"One day the female eagle landed near a stream where a fox lay in wait.
"'Who are you?' The fox asked, creeping forward as he witnessed the female eagle spread her beautiful wings and then settle down to preen.
"'I am female eagle,' she answered in her musical voice. 'Who are you?'
"The fox tried to hide his shock. All of the forest creatures spoke of the grand eagles who lived in the sky above, their presence the sole reason the sun shone brightly above and providing the light to keep the forest happy and tranquil.
"The fox also wasn't stupid and knew her mate would be there shortly to fend away any animal that posed a threat. The female eagle was young, though, and unaware of the fox's true nature. He decided to befriend her.
"'I am called fox,' the creature answered craftily, stepping out of the tall grasses so that the female eagle could see him better, his luxurious red coat a lure for most.
"'Nice to meet you, fox. What brings you here to the river?' The female eagle inquired politely.
"Ever craftily the fox spoke. 'I use the river to measure how far I can run. Watch.' Quickly he took off, dashing away and then returning, surprised when the female eagle laughed and congratulated him on his speed before thanking him for his kindness and returning to the sky.
"Never had any of the other creatures trusted fox and he was surprised that the female eagle would do so. He had intended to kill her and instead found that he had enjoyed her company more so than that of a meal. Should he ever see her again, the fox decided, he would not hurt her.
"She came back the next day and the day after, always treating the fox with kindness and respect as they exchanged stories of things they had seen in their travels, both on land and air. After some time, the female eagle told her mate of the unusual relationship when he asked her where she spent her afternoons. The male eagle knew better and didn't trust the fox, but because his mate was happy, he left it be.
"As the days passed, the fox became jealous of the female eagle. She spoke of the land from above and the ability to see the tops of the trees, something the fox would never be able to do. One day the fox asked the female eagle why she didn't try to run like he did, telling her that because she was an eagle and he was a fox should make no difference. He knew she lacked the four legs required to run, but thought it would make him feel better to see her fail at something he could do so well.
"The female eagle tried to run and failed, crying woefully and bringing her mate to her side instantly.
"'What have you done to her?' he demanded of the fox, his talons flexing in anger.
"'Nothing,' wailed the female eagle. 'The fox has done nothing to me except show me what I am missing by having wings and not four feet.'
"'You hurt yourself trying to live in a world that is unlike your own,' the male eagle admonished his mate. 'We are together and happy without this fox to tell you otherwise and while I have said nothing of your wish to be his friend, you cannot be a fox.'
"The male eagle took his mate back to their nest, telling her how much he loved her and how much she meant to him, but the female was not to be consoled. She wanted the one thing the male could not give her and nothing would ever change that, no matter what he did or said.
"'Mate, please let me live with the fox. If I stay on the ground like him perhaps I will eventually learn how to run and be happy.'
"Angrily, the male eagle dismissed his mate when she refused to listen to reason. 'You cannot change what you are. You cannot go back to be born something else and I am upset that you cannot see this. You are forbidden to see the fox ever again!' Not wanting to hurt his mate, the male eagle flew away, soaring out of range from their home for many days to think about how he could better help her accept what she was and meant to him."
"Why?" Bella whispered, failing to understand the bleakness in Jacob's voice as she interrupted his tale. "Why couldn't he just leave her and find a mate more worthy rather than try to fix the one who wanted more?"
Jacob tensed, his fingers caressing the skin around her throat gently, both hands cupping the slender area. "Because, the male eagle loved his mate more than anyone else could and knew if she went to be with the fox, he wouldn't make her into something better, but into something unnatural."
"Jake?" Bella's own hands began to hover where Jake's where pressed tightly against the tendons in her neck, thumbs beginning to dig into her wind pipe.
"I can't do it, Bella. I can't leave you and I'll never stop loving you," Jacob explained, his eyes trained on her lips as he resumed the tale.
"When the male eagle finally returned it was to be greeted with the same sight he had left. His mate, her wings and feathers still an impressive sight to behold, had withered away. When she took short flights to stretch or peck at fish to eat, her wings no longer beat at the air with grace and happiness."
The rapid beating that Jacob could hear was not that of an eagle's wings. In his mind, the legendary eagle began to slow. The wind current it had been riding dissipated and the eagle fell.
"There was nothing the male eagle could do to help his mate see what it meant to be an eagle," Jake whispered, still lost in the fable. "He had searched far and wide and none of the creatures he had met could help.
"'Please,' the female begged again. 'Please let me stay with fox and try to be like him.'
"It was then when the male eagle realized his love would never be enough for her. The fox didn't love the female eagle either; he just wanted a companion that would make him feel better about himself at the expense of her weakness."
The words jolted Jacob out of his trance, his eyes immediately seeking the ashen and closed lids of Bella's. "I will always love you, Bella, but I will not stand by and let the fox make you into something you're not supposed to be."
With infinite care, he cradled her gently as he walked through the rugged landscape towards one of the larger waterfalls that fed the river below, the short distance giving him enough time to complete the tale.
"The male eagle listened closely as his mate pleaded with him. She was always meant to be his mate and while she had tried in the beginning, she had been introduced to a poisonous thought he could not cure. He returned her to the fox, watching from the sky as she continued to fail at running. The male eagle tried not to screech in protest when the fox helped her cut off her wings in the hopes that she would be able to run better without them. Nothing worked and the female eagle became even more despondent than before upon realizing the without four legs and without wings she could not return the live she had before.
"Despite all of her foolishness, the male eagle still loved her, although he could not take her back without her wings. He still sat and watched when the fox grew weary of the female eagle's woeful cries, reverting to his true nature and killing the female eagle who was unable to escape into the sky."
"I didn't want to be the fox," Jacob murmured to the cold and silent body cradled in his arms. With a final chaste kiss to her lips, he stretched his arms outwards to release her, whispering, "Like the male eagle, though, I will always love you as you were meant to be."