Two weeks later…
Sara paused, blushing.
"I'm in love with you, Jacob." She admitted.
Her old hag of a mother wailed behind them to wait for her.
Then, slowly, a smile spread across his face. He strode forward boldly, closing the space between them in two long strides. He tilted her face softly towards his, grinning.
"I forgive you for making me wait so long."He whispered playfully, tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear.
Their lips met.
When they parted, their breath was ragged.
"How will Cate…?"
"She loves you."
"That doesn't mean she'll be used to sharing you."
Jacob sighed. "I think- she might get used to it."
Sara laughed softly. "Might."
Jacob grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
The sunlight disappeared behind a luminous black cloud, shrouding the meodow in temporary shadow.
When the sun resurfaced, Jacob threw his face into the beam of light and closed his eyes, soaking the sunlight like a man who'd spent five months in the nothern tip of the earth. He took a moment to thank Cate, his deceased, for the happiness she'd given him, and to tell her that wherever she was, he still loved her with all his heart. But it was Sara's time now. The sunlight that warmed the meadow suddenly closed in on itself, finally stopping in one single circle of light around Jacob Black. He felt Cate's smiling presence in that beam of light, and he paused, letting her warmth sink into his body.
Sara watched Jacob, his face tensionless as the sun beat down on him. It was a moment Sara would never forget. His hands spread, palms upturned toward the sky, in an offering of his joy. His coppery skin blazed, crow-black hair gleaming in the ray of sunlight. The wind swayed the weedy mountain flowers, sending up a small wave of gold, purple and orange petals. The mountains towered around the valley, dark and regal, showing off their snowy caps. They seemed to sing with the songs of the past, and Sara could only feel that they were watching this moment now, in silent appraisal. That single, beautiful ray of sunlight, in that one perfect moment, shone only on him. Jacob Black. The afflicted son of past pain- the man who escaped his fate, his future. Jacob Black. Finally, wholly happy.