Passing Years

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thanks for the kind reviews, Nikki.

Part Four-Twin Worlds

Time passed and as much as Bella tried to hold onto it, it continued to trickle through her fingers. The days turned into weeks, turned into months and before she knew it a whole year had passed, a whirlwind year where she and Jacob spent every spare moment together, laughing, sometimes squabbling, and making love. Every second was precious and they tried to pack in as much as they could, they went out to shows, saw films, went clubbing, took long strolls in the parks and through the city. Sometimes they would just stay inside for the whole day making love, talking nostalgically about the past and sitting out on the balcony they had come to love, drinking wine and gazing upon the people going about their lives below them. But as the next year dawned Jacob began to really deteriorate. His once shiny black hair was peppered with grey, he had lost a lot of his bulk and he was slower on his feet then he was. Bella refused to show him her anguish as she watched him become older before her eyes. Looks didn't matter to her; he was still her Jacob inside. But when she would catch him gasping for breath and holding his hand across his chest, then she couldn't contain her panic, and it took a lot of willpower for her not to show her alarm and fuss over him, although at night she was on constant watch while he slept.

They tried living in denial. Jacob refused to discuss his fading health, he put a brave face on any pain and Bella tried her best to follow his lead, although she wondered whether he saw the anxious looks she would dart his way when she noticed his face scrunching up in pain. One morning they were out strolling through the city mingling with the crowds on the side walk. It was an overcast day with just a light wind. Jacob usually enjoyed the walks but today Bella could see he was flagging. "Perhaps we should go back to the apartment?" She suggested when she saw him grimace in pain.

"Yes." Jacob gasped, reaching out to lean on her as they slowly turned back toward home.

Jacob got worse during the day. He slept for a long time but when he woke up he was still in pain and his ashen face only alarmed Bella more. She begged him to seek medical assistance but he refused to. "We knew this was going to happen, honey." He put a trembling hand on her face and stroked her smooth skin. "I just need to rest more." He had eaten a light snack and then retired to bed again. Bella hovered over him, watching the rise and fall of his chest anxiously as he slept, that was until a knock at the door interrupted her. Who the hell could that be? They never had visitors. She hurried to answer it in case the knocking disturbed Jacob. When she opened the door she was shocked to find Rosalie standing on her doorstep.

Rosalie's beautiful face was full of empathy as she sat next to Bella on the leather sofa. "How are you coping?" She asked gently.

"Not well." Bella confessed. "I'm trying not to fall apart in front of him, but it's so hard…." Her voice tailed off as she gave into her despair. She closed her eyes as she felt Rosalie's hand touch her hair and stroke it.

"I am so sorry this happened to him. I know we had our differences, but I know how much he means to you. I've been thinking about you since I heard that you were staying on here. I had to come." Rosalie sighed as Bella's face crumpled. It was obvious she was under immense strain, she had no one to talk to about how she was feeling and the toll it was taking seeing the man she loved failing before her eyes.

"Thank you." Bella allowed Rosalie to hug her for a moment before she gathered herself together and pulled away. "How is Edward? I haven't heard from him in months."

"Edward is Edward." Rosalie said bitterly. "Full of self-importance as always and feeling immensely sorry for himself. He spends his days at the piano writing ever more turgid and morbid symphonies and driving poor Esme mad and even trying Carlisle's patience."

Bella couldn't help the small snort of laughter that erupted from her lips at the image Rosalie painted of her estranged husband. "I'm sorry I shouldn't laugh…" She muttered guiltily.

"Why ever not?" Rosalie smiled grimly. "Edward is a fool…." She stopped speaking when she saw Bella's eyes dart toward the room where Jacob was sleeping. "How bad is he?" She questioned in a gentler tone.

"Very bad." Bella's face was full of despair and it made Rosalie's chest ache in sympathy. She couldn't imagine how she would cope if anything like that were to happen to Emmet. She put her hand over Bella's and squeezed causing Bella to lock eyes with her. "Rose, I need you to do something for me."

"I will look out for Edward, we all will." Rosalie didn't need to be psychic to know what Bella was intending to do. It was written all over her face. Rosalie leaned forward and kissed Bella on the cheek before she whispered quietly in her ear. "I will be thinking of you both. I hope you find your peace, Bella. I really do." With those parting words she hugged Bella briefly again before she took her leave. Rosalie instinctively knew she would never see Bella Swan alive again.

It happened in the early hours of the morning. Bella was sitting cross legged on the bed next to Jacob when she saw him jerk, his eyes flared open and he inhaled sharply. "Bells…." He cried out in fear as he clutched at his heart.

Bella sprang into action at once. She threw down the book she had been reading and quickly began to perform CPR. "Come on Jake don't leave me yet, please, please…." She begged over and over as she pumped his chest.

It seemed an eternity before she heard Jacob inhale quietly and his heart stuttered to life in his chest. Bella felt as if she had lived through ten life times as she anxiously studied his ashen face for signs of life. Achingly slowly Jacob opened his weary eyes and gazed up into her golden ones. "Take me home, Bells. I want to go home to La Push now…I want to die on my lands." He choked out.

Bella nodded as she carefully picked him up in her hard arms. He felt so lightweight. He was unable to walk and his breathing was shallow. She could hear his heart stuttering in his chest and she worried they wouldn't make it in time. She would drive like the devil if she had to. There was no way she was going to let him down now.

Twice on the journey to the reservation Jacob's heart stopped. Twice Bella had to perform CPR to get it started again. He was drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time and she became frantic that he was going to pass away before they reached their destination. "Hold on, Jake. Hold on." She said over and over as the familiar terrain of Forks came into view. "Not long now, sweetheart, not long now…."

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, bathing the wide open fields and the tops of the trees in light Bella reached Jacob's old home. She parked up and stared in wonder at the familiar redwood house where she had spent so many happy times with Jacob in the distant past. Some of it had fallen into disrepair and the weeds had grown up around the front yard. Vandals had obviously attacked the main house as the front door had been kicked in and she could see some of the contents chucked outside. It saddened her seeing her former sanctuary abused in this way. "Oh Jake." She whispered brokenly as she glanced at him. His eyes were closed and it was only the rise and fall of his chest that showed he was still breathing. "I won't take you in there." She glanced across at the old garage which they had christened their Taj Mahal. Considering the damage to the main house this seemed surprisingly intact. "There, we'll go there, sweetheart." Bella climbed out of the car and eased Jacob out of his seat gently before carrying him over to the garage and heading inside.

She spotted it as soon as she turned on the lights. Its wheels were long gone and it was stacked up on a pile of bricks, but there was no mistaking the old red monster. He had kept her red Chevy, even after all these years. Bella nearly fell apart; she shook as she carried Jacob over to the truck and opened one of the doors. She slid his body along the bench seat and climbed in after him. "Jake, I love you. Can you hear me? I love you."

Jacob's eyes opened briefly, he looked at her as a glimmer of a smile crossed his lips. "I'm home now." He mumbled.

"You're home, Jake. You're home." Bella held onto him tightly as she rocked him back and forth. She could feel his heart jumping in his chest as it finally stuttered to a halt for the last time.

"I love you, Bells." His last words were barely a whisper but she caught them. She held onto him tight as he gasped one more time before slipping away.

"Wait for me, sweetheart." Bella murmured as she rocked his lifeless body in her arms. "I'm coming."

The engine still worked. Bella smiled sadly as it rumbled to life. She had so missed that sound. She climbed out of the cab and lifted up the hood of the truck so she could unscrew the oil cap. The smell of rancid oil made her gag a little but she ignored it and pulled a box of matches out of her pocket. She lit one and threw it into the oil. Fire flared up at once. She stepped back and shielded her eyes, satisfied that it would do the job. She shut the hood of the old iron monster and climbed back in the cab. Taking Jacob's lifeless body in her arms again she closed her eyes tight as an old vision unfurled in her mind. She was standing in a meadow full of wildflowers holding onto the hands of two impatient black haired children as they begged to run over to the man striding toward them in the distance…the truck exploded.

Bella felt a wave of heat wash over her as she opened her eyes and stared down at the twins. They were looking up at her impatiently. They could see their father coming home from work and they were desperate to greet him. Bella smiled. "Ready?"

"We're ready." The twins said in unison.

Bella laughed as she suddenly darted forward, towing the twins with her as they ran toward Jacob as he hunkered down and held out his arms to his family, ready to scoop them up in his strong arms.

FIN….