I hope you read this chapter slowly. Also, please read the final note. Enjoy.

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Disclaimer: I do not own any content or story lines of Twilight. I hoped you have enjoyed this story, which is mine.

Chapter 17: Forever Morning

Leora POV

After losing three wrestling matches, I gave up on trying to beat E. He was just too good at fighting, which probably should have concerned me.

I grabbed his hand, and we weaved in and around the trees of this forest of mysteries.

"Tell me everything," E whispered Right from the second I left your sight."

So I told him everything. Every detail. Even the hole in my chest and the suicide attempt, which he clearly as unhappy about. I elaborated on Jasper and Alice, trying to make sure E understood just how much I loved both of them. Turns out, I didn't need to. E said he saw it before any of us ever spoke. When I started telling about the Lancaster dreams, I couldn't help but reach for my stomach.

"What's wrong, Lee?"

"It's nothing."

"Let me see."

"Really, babe… sigh Okay, fine." I started to pull up my sweatshirt, but stopped. "Promise you won't freak?"

"No." Ah, that familiar stubborn, blunt E I've always known.

I sighed, but pulled the sweater up until it reached the spot right below my bust. E looked at the scars for a long time, but it was far from awkward. His expression stayed the same: a strange, indescribable one. Finally, he looked sick.

"How could… He got that close to you?"

"Mm-Hm, his attack was a little bit—oh, forget it."

"No, tell me, Lee!"

I looked away. There was just no way I could put this into words.

"Lee," E wrapped his arms around me, in slow, graceful movements, as if he were afraid to break me. He pressed his ear against mine. "Did that… Did he…touch…?"

I nodded once, a tear slipping down my cheek. E exhaled sharply.

"Don't cry, babe. I'm sorry; I won't bring it up anytime soon. We'll talk about it when you're ready. And I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from…that boy..." He gave the human equivalent of a growl. "I hope those papery old geezers—the Volturi—don't catch that twerp."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'd like to decapitate him myself."

"Well, it's a good thing they will, because I can't handle the thought of him interfering with our lives again."

"Absolutely."

Some time later, the sun began setting, and by then we had built a towering fire, so hot the air seemed to ripple when you approached. This was for recreational purposes only, of course.

"Kitten, do you realize summer's pretty much over?"

"Mm…tonight the Troop would be dancing and having the First Crop festival..." I told him I could practically smell my favorite candies, candies that are deep-fried spiced honey molded into the Troop insignias.

"Who says they get to have all the fun?"

"Pardon?"

"C'mon!" He suggested a dance for only the most experienced, talented and daring dancers of our Troop. Loosely translated, the title is "The Lion's Forest Heart" or "The Forest in the Lion's heart."

"Are you insane?! I barely remember—"

"So? We'll make up the moves. Please, Lee?" He held out his hand to take mine, his skin shimmering in the glow of the flames. I could only stare at his beauty. "Dance with me."

And so we danced. We were not two separate dancers; we were one dancer, able to be in two different places at once. At first, our moves were slow, patient, and lovely. Then, there were graceful twists and spins, made incredibly perfect by our vampirism.

When the running part of the dance started, the two Packs came to watch. The Quileutes sat, far from us, in a circle around the fire. They had no drum and they weren't moving, but everywhere I turned, I heard a steady beat. It was a short-long rhythm, a…th-thump, if you will.

The more I admired E's brilliant, shimmering face, the more I thought he heard the drum too. We began to communicate with our movements. Every time I heard the noise, I would pound the ground. Soon enough, E and I were hitting the dirt once every couple of minutes. When the singing started, a long pause always let us hear the thump. Sam was the one singing, and soon enough, the Quileutes joined in. None of them knew our dance and E and I didn't know their language, but the two mixed and mingled easily, like the melody and harmony of two variations of one song.

The vampires came to find the source of the commotion a while later, when the moon was highest and brightest in the sky. By then, E and I were wild. There were tufts of fur flying everywhere as we half-phased while cart- wheeling or back flipping. At times, the singing was more like screaming, and our danced changed to match it. There was so much raw emotion it was almost scary.

The immortals settled in so that every other being was a vampire, then a Wolf. Wolf, vampire, wolf, vampire…Soon, they all blended into one audience. I could only make out their best traits, and it seemed that there was sparkling marble-white skin on half-naked Quileute bodies. They had all become one. I looked to E.

He knew.

Finally, the song had to end. We had drawn it out to the (and our) breaking point, and if we tried to make it go any longer, I knew we would pass out. Well, maybe the mortal half of me would. The vampire part fainting… I had to laugh.

The last turns led E and me into each other's arms, my hands in his, his eyes holding mine. E's breath came quick and heavy, as did mine. Applause and howls erupted.

The drum beat again. Now? It didn't make sense. The dance was over, why would—

But the pulse hadn't been coming from a drum. E looked at me, hearing the same sound.

There was another, louder th-thump. This time, the sound pounded through my body, reverberating. E's must have as well, because we raised our hands over where our hearts would be simultaneously. We looked at each other.

"It stopped…" E muttered.

"I felt it…"

"It's not supposed to…"

"No…"

We looked down. In awe, we muttered "Yes."

What the Cullens said was true. The Volturi had been telling the truth, which was right in front of us all along.

Our hearts hadn't stopped. They only paused, waiting for the other to arrive, the one to which they belonged. We could most certainly feel our hearts pounding now.

I threw myself into E, pulling him against me. He pulled me against him as well. Some sensitive skin cell noticed the faint movement of E's heart, and I can assume he felt mine too.

Emmett was suddenly there, messing with our hair.

"What did we try to tell you youngsters? Your thumpers still thump! Leave it to the hybrids to doubt the Volturi…"

"What was that you called us?" E asked with genuine curiosity. He didn't let me go for the world, and I was perfectly happy where I stood.

"Youngsters?"

"No, the other thing."

"Hybrid?"

"Yeah… I like that." E turned to me, excited. "We've got a shorter species description now!"

I pretended to mull it over for a few seconds. "I think I'll stick with Kitten."

E chuckled, grinning wide. He pulled my lips to his and kissed me sweetly and passionately, his heart giving the perfect soundtrack. Those few seconds with him were all I needed.

Emmett stole E away, taking him to the ground playfully. E got on his feet, pulling Seth into the mix. I could only laugh at them. They were perfect eternal littermates. At least, E and Emmett would fall into the eternal part…

I gave a yelp, as suddenly I was weightless, in the air, then onto Jazz's shoulders. I felt like a little girl again. I was on my daddy's shoulders, happy, healthy, and young. Eternally young.

Alice grabbed Jasper's free hand, looking at me. I messed with Jazz's hair. "Love you," I whispered. I looked to Alice "Both of you."

"Hey!" E yelled, teasingly hurt.

E jogged up behind me. I reached down a bit to grab his hand.

"I love you."

"—Always and forever, E."

Jasper started walking and, with a loving glance, I slipped my hand out from E's, and he walked behind us. Alice looked at our little group and leaned into Jasper.

"Remember the vision I had in the cottage, the one I was so happy about? This was it."

He smiled, turning to her. "Of course it was."

I truly felt too big to be on Dad's shoulders, but I liked the view. I could see that, right behind us, Rose, Emmett and my E were walking next to each other. Rose's face softened when E complimented her. Emmett got defensive and gave him a nudgie. Laughing, I continued to look.

Behind my E and his new "parents", Ness sung between the arms of Bella and Edward, while Carlisle and Esme watched, arms linked and eyes proud. The wolves surrounded us like a protective barrier, all in a horseshoe, starting with Sam on Dad's side, extending back and around, all the way to Jacob on Mom's side.

I reached for E, and he was already there.

We all walked into the dusk as one pretty insane family. The saying about learning to dance in the rain popped into my head. E and I were forever in the morning of our lives, but I was beginning to like this eternal sunrise.