'Destiny' Really

Chapter 1

I do not own Twilight.

Inhaling the smoky smell of the fire, I looked around with a small smile. I recognized Embry Call, who looked very different than how I remembered him; he looked tall and burly. He was talking to a tall man and a shorter, pretty woman. I also spotted Quil Ateara, slightly isolated from everyone else, sitting next to a toddler sitting on a tree stump, talking animatedly. He, like Embry, was tall and muscular. I shook my head slightly; Jacob had been right, all of his friends here looked like that. I wondered if it was something genetic or something like that. I was never really good with biology.

Emily Uley, who had befriended me a few days after I had returned to La Push, stood, close to the foresty area, with her husband and a group of boys I didn't recognized. All of them had hotdogs in hand. I scanned the crowd again; Charlie Swan was sitting with Sue Clearwater. A few feet away from them, Sue's son, Seth, was sitting with two boys on a table. I bit my lip expectantly; where was she? She had promised that she would be here!

As if hearing my thoughts, I heard a familiar voice calling out, "Over here Rachel!"

I spun around and saw Leah Clearwater sitting on a log, her back to the fire. Grinning, I walked over to her and sat on a tree stump across from where she sat. The fire behind her made her black hair seem to glow. The light also was very bright. I blinked a bit before saying, "Hi! How's life?"

She sighed, her dark eyes glinted mischievously, and informed me, "I've been dreaming of cookies."

I shrugged; "You were stressed; it's a stress reliever. Anyways, I'm sure you got Seth's forever adoration for all those batches. I distinctly remember Jacob vowing to do anything for me if I continued to cook. I would presume that your little brother would do the same."

Leah snorted; "Yeah, right. And Paul is the Easter bunny."

"That'd be an easier thing to imagine if I knew what he actually looked like," I said, giving her a look.

"Nuh-uh," she said, shaking her head. "He's dangerous."

I rolled my eyes. "You and Jacob. Anyways, did you read that book I gave you?"

"Yes," she groaned. "That has been giving me nightmares. How can you stand all of that fluff? It's all," she raised her pitch a couple levels, "'Oh, my god! He looked at me, but I still hate him, but I love him, and he's horrible, but he's amazing, but-'"

I giggled and quickly broke her off, "It helps people get over things. It actually works."

"Yeah," she muttered. "Instead of worrying and stressing about one thing, it makes us gag."

"And it proves how more stressful your life could be," I added, grinning.

"Those little idiots make their lives stressful!" Leah cried, throwing up her hands. "You either like the guy or you don't! It isn't that difficult!"

"Actually," I automatically corrected her, "it's hard for people, especially females or teenagers, to identify the differences between their hormones telling their brain the males they are attracted to, which is really just lust, which is created by the scent we smell subconsciously. Actually being in love-"

"Okay, okay, it's complicated. Let's leave it at that!" Leah hurriedly intersected my lecture.

I laughed. "It's actually really interesting! All that stuff about how closely our bodies are related to animals, if the reasearchers are correct, that is. It almost convinced me that evolution is real."

"You don't believe in evolution?"

"I don't know. It doesn't concern me if we are related to monkeys or whatnot. I'm a sociologist, not a historian, with good reason."

It was Leah's turn to laugh. "How is Jacob doing?" she inquired when she was done laughing. "I haven't heard, um, talked to him lately."

I sighed. "He's worried. For a nineteen year old, he seems to be way too stressed. I think that talking about it helps but..." I trailed off with another sigh.

"It's about Paul," Leah said, irritated. "I'd blame him, but Paul wouldn't be so cheerful on purposed."

"Paul still not 'changing' or whatever he's supposed to do?" I asked casually. This 'Paul' guy had been a worry of both Jacob and Leah.

"Yeah. The younger guys are around him a lot, trying to annoy him, and even that's not working."

I gave her a questioning look. She explained, "Those guys can get anyone annoyed. They can get even Emily annoyed at times."

"Emily? Annoyed?" I said, watching her carefully, trying to sound unconcerned. Emily was a touchy subject.

Leah noticed me tentative look and sighed. Looking away from me, she opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. I waited patiently. It seemed very quite between us. The background noises, the guys talking loudly and the flames crackling, seemed somewhat muffled. I focused all my attention on my friend sitting in front of me. Finally, she spoke; "I talked to Emily today." She paused and took a deep breath. "It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I guess I don't think of Sam as strongly as I used to. I guess, since the guys are starting to find their soul mates, mine'll come along eventually. It's not like I don't have time to spare."

I blinked at the word 'soul mates'. It seemed everyone here used that term. Jacob used it to refer to his girlfriend at times, as did a few of the other guys I'd talked to. I wondered why Leah said it with a tired tone. I guess she wanted her 'soul mate' now. I knew the feeling. Oh, the joys of sixteen year old hormones.

Leah continued, "It was somewhat awkward. So we," as she leaned forward, her eyes flickered to mine; they shined with amusement, "baked cookies."

I laughed, and said, somewhat defensively, "It helps with stress or any other strong emotions. Your cousin is smart!"

Leah shrugged, leaning back; "If you say so." I could tell by her tone that this subject was over. Well, at least she was improving. Actually talking to Emily? That would've been impossible for her a week ago. I wanted to smile smugly, but then Leah would probably laugh at me.

"So, is there a reason all you do is hang out with guys?" I asked her mischievously, going onto a new subject.

Shrugging again, she replied, "I have my reasons. It's a secret for Jacob to tell you."

I groaned; "There are way too many of those. Its days like these I wish I could read minds."

She laughed at that. I mock-glared at her. Before either of us could say anything else, Rebecca strode over to us, dragging along her husband who looked scared. "Hiya, girl!" she chirped. "Leah, can you excuse us for a minute? Tom'll keep you company." So that's why he was petrified; Tom was, in contrast to Rebecca, shy. "I have to kidnap my sister who has no fashion sense."

Leah laughed at me as Rebecca grabbed my arm and dragged me away to the beginning of the dark forest that was next to the bonfire. We passed Emily and the guys she was talking to. I sent her pleadful look, which she only grinned to. Traitor.

"What?" I asked Rebecca, trying not to scowl, when she pushed me toward a tree. I placed my hands behind me on the tree and leaned back.

My evil twin smirked at me, her arms crossed. "I have a proposition for you. One that you have no choice but to agree to." I rolled my eyes and she continued, "Everyday this summer I get to dress you up and I'll stay in La Push."

I stared at her for a split second before coming to my senses. "You're planning on living here anyways; you just want to get something from me."

"Of course, dear," she said sweetly. "But, you forget, you've still got to play my dress-up doll this summer, or else."

"Or else what?" I challenged.

"I'll tell Jacob that you've got a secret boyfriend."

"I don't."

"So?"

"I have some blackmail that I can do on you too, you know," I threatened.

"I still consider it settled," she said firmly, frowning. "You'll never get a boyfriend, much less a husband, unless you have my help, since luck doesn't seem to help you at all. To make you feel better, I won't make you wear anything that Dad and Jacob don't approve of, if they have a good reason."

"No."

"I'll buy you ice-cream, the way you like it, once a week," Rebecca added, easily bribing me. "And I'll pay for all the equipment I need to make you look dateable."

"Done." It was almost sad that I was bought by ice-cream, but what can I say? For six years I had to survive without the heavenly stuff. From what I learned from one of my professors, ice cream cheered up almost everyone. (He was off-duty when he said this). "And what do you mean 'look dateable'? Do I look undateable?"

"Yep," she easily answered, then quickly continued. "I mean, Rachel, you look nice and everything, but you look taken. Seriously. Look at yourself. At our age, to date, your clothes need to scream 'I want to date!' so there's no misunderstanding. Guys are way too cautious at our age."

"So why are you moving here?" I asked her cautiously.

With a sigh, she said, "Well you know how it is. With what's going on with me and Tom, it'll be nice to have my family and Tom's family here to help us. It's a life-changing thing, you know..."

"What is it?" I prompted patiently. From past experience from my sister I knew better than to suspect the worst.

"Well, it just happens that I'm...I'm...I'm pregnant," she finished, her face breaking out in a grin at the last part.

I stared at her for a second, before shrieking, "You're pregnant! I can't believe! Oh, oh, that's great! Oh my god! That's-that's awesome! When is it due? Are you really serious? Oh, my god, Rebecca!"

Shaking her head slightly, the-eventually-to-be-mother commented, trying to hide her obvious excitement, "The one thing that would get my passive sister to freak out."

I ignored her. "Does Tom know?"

"Of course he does; that's why we decided to move back here, you know," she said, rolling her eyes. Then, losing her calm demeanor, she said, "Can you really believe it, Rachel? I'm pregnant!"

I don't know who shrieked first, but soon we were hugging at jumping up and down, with Rebecca repeating, "Oh my god, oh my god!"

"What are you two up to?" a familiar voice drawled.

Still embracing each other, Rebecca and I turned looked at our brother who was leaning lazily against a tree. "Go away Jacob!" Rebecca snapped.

"Yeah," I added, a little more gently. "We're having a female moment."

"Well, I'm sure all the people at the bonfire can hear you. What's the big news?" he asked, looking somewhat interested.

Unable to hide the noise and her enthusiasm, Rebecca cried, "I'm pregnant!"

The look on Jacob's face was priceless. His eyes went big and his jaw dropped. It was moments like this that reminded me that he really was younger than me, despite his appearance. After a few moments of Jacob's gawking and Rebecca's beaming, Jacob finally spoke; "Finally!"

Rebecca glared at him, still grinning. "That exactly what Tom said! You guys are so unsupportive!"

Jacob shrugged, still grinning. "When are you telling Dad?"

"Soon, I hope," Rebecca said with a giggle.

Rebecca separated from me and went up to Jacob, hugging him fiercely. "You're going to be an uncle," she commented happily.

"I hate to break up your family emotional-fest," a bored voice said, "but, Jacob, Paul is acting really weird."

I turned to see Leah, back to her cynical attitude, leaning against a tree, watching us. I raised an eyebrow at her; she smirked. Leah was a strange girl, I'll give her that.

"What did he do?" Jacob asked somewhat anxiously as Rebecca walked back to me.

"Come on," my sister said grabbing my wrist and pulling me back to the bonfire. "Let's leave little Jakey to business."

"You know, I am a foot taller than you!" Jacob called after us.

"Your point?" I yelled back.

"You're growing a personality," Rebecca sighed, nodding proudly.

"Whatever," I said with a laugh. "At least, that's what you'd say."

"You know me too well."

We reached the bonfire area. My evil twin dragged over to a log. She sat down and I did the same right next to her. "Beckie!" a voice called out in relief.

My sister instantly stood up and embraced Tom as he practically ran to us. They made lip-contact for about a minute. I grimaced. Luckily, Embry came up to us and saved me. "Get a room, you two!" he told them, gagging.

The love birds broke off and Rebecca turned slightly, still in Tom's embrace, her hands on his chest, and she glared Embry. Tom, meanwhile, looked embarrassed. I smiled; they were such a fun couple to observe. I guess it's true what they say: opposites attract. "How's it going?" I asked the still-gagging boy.

"Great! Finished that degree thingy yet?"

"Yep," I said cheerfully. "I think I got a job, too."

His eyes went wide; "Where?"

"It's a secret."

"Come on Rachel!" This time it was Rebecca who spoke. "We want to know if you're staying or leaving! Is that so much to ask?"

"I'm not telling. You'll know at the end of the summer, I promise."

Rebecca began muttering about annoying sisters; Embry just laughed. "Embry," Jacob's voice called out as he jogged over to where our group stood. "Where's Paul?"

Embry pointed to a man standing in close to the water. "He's over there, pacing. He thinks he's going crazy, and frankly I agree. He's going on about hearing angels or something."

Jacob shook his head. "He's still overly happy?" Without waiting for a reply, my little brother shouted, "Paul! Come over here right now!"

The man turned and looked at Jacob. Slowly, the man made his way towards us. When he reached us, he gave Jacob a long look. "Yeah?"

The man was tall and strong-looking, like Jacob and most of his friends. He was about an inch taller than Jacob, making him about six inches taller than me. I had to look up to see his face. He could be called handsome, but I'm bad at judging that kind of stuff. His dark black hair was, like Embry's, cropped slightly short. All in all, he had a nice appearance.

"What's up now?" Jacob asked, somehow keeping his frustration mostly out of his voice.

The man, Paul, shrugged and replied, "I've been hearing an angel's voice now, and a heavenly scent. And I felt my world shift slightly about twenty minutes ago. It was weird. I think I've gone insane."

"Are you hearing the voices in your head?" Jacob inquired.

Paul shook his head; "Nope. It blends in with the conversation around us, I don't know what its saying, and I don't hear it constantly."

"Then you probably aren't crazy," my little brother said with a small smile.

"'Probably'? Thanks," he muttered, then he looked Jacob straight in the eye. "When can I shift again?"

Jacob shrugged, then glanced cautiously at Rebecca, Tom, and me. Embry and Paul followed his line of vision. "Don't worry," I told them. "It doesn't make any sense. You're secret is safe."

"You never know," Jacob said wearily as Embry gasped, "Oh, no way, man! You've got to be kidding me! Paul, it was nice knowing you."

Jacob's gaze snapped towards Paul, who looked shocked. My brother's gaze then drifted over to Rebecca and Tom, to me, back to Paul, to me, and finally resting on Paul. "YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!" Jacob shouted at the top of his lungs.

Paul began to growl, literally. Embry said, an amused grin plastered on his face, "Come on you three, let's leave these two to kill each other. I think Paul's just overcome his mental problems."

Embry grabbed me arm and began to drag me off. Rebecca and Tom followed us. "But what's going on?" I asked.

"Later," was all he said.

I sighed, and turned slightly to see my brother and Paul. Jacob was shaking, a lot, while Paul just looked bewildered. I had a feeling that the taller man didn't look confused often. Sighing again, I let Embry drag me away from the fight.

A/N: Please review! It makes me happy! I hope that this wasn't too short. The word-processing software thingy that I use doesn't have word count, so I don't really know if it's long or not. And I'm awful at just eyeing it.

Just and FYI, Paul and Rachel are the same age in this. Since I, the all powerful author of this story, can control my newly created word with my magical words, I can do stuff like change ages. While I'm at changing things, becoming a shrink, in this world, will take four years. In reality, I think it takes ten years...? Anyway, I didn't want Rachel to be ancient, since twenty eight is so ancient, so I changed that a bit. This also takes place after the last Twilight book which I can't remember the name of. Jacob, by the way, is about eighteen in this; I'm not sure if that's correct or not, but oh, well.

Thank you so much for reading!

-Princess Mariana :)

P.S. I'll be updating again in about a week...or two, because I want to finish the next chapter for the other fan fictions I'm writing. I decided to even it out. I'll try to update as soon as possible, though. :)