Chapter 11 – Bikes and accidents and Cullen, oh my!

Isabella/Arwen

It's a beautiful sunny day. I love Saturdays. I park my faithful red truck and Jacob takes both bikes off it, placing them on the ground.

I love how strong he is.

If Lana was here... she'd laugh at me and tease me for being so... so...

Nevermind that.

"Thinking about Lana?", asks Jacob.

"Yeah, can't help it."

"You were really close, before your... human life?"

"Yes, what with searching for compatible races with our own and such." I pause. "I'd rather not talk about it." He seems to know my moods rather well, then it's all out for him to see how painful it is for me, to remember the past. "Some other time, perhaps."

He holds me in his arms for a bit; I breathe in his scent and nuzzle his neck.

"How is Paul?", I mumble into his well-defined pectoral. He growls, like the wolf he is; my belly tightens. Goddess, but I love that sound!

"I appreciate your concern with my pack mate, but I'd rather not discuss other guys when we're...", he hesitates.

"Oh, having a moment?", he smirks. "Well, I won't do it again, then. But since the moment has gone under, maybe now you could tell me about Paul?"

Jacob smiles tenderly at me, and caresses my hair, mumbling something in Quileute.

"Paul is..." he hesitates. "different."

"Different... how?"

"Well... he was rather aggressive, had a temper. He's calmed down in these last three weeks, a lot. Remember I told you how Sam was always with him, so he wouldn't phase?" I nod. "Not anymore. He's not so much of a jerk now; I think he's actually controlling himself for the first time, being more responsible, you know... being a werewolf and all..."

I pause and nod, keeping my thoughts to myself. I make a mental note to visit Paul one of these days; having the strange feeling his behavior is not what they think. I get on one of the bikes and Jacob shows me how to drive it, his big hands gently touching mine. Our eyes meet, his dark eyes shining with promise, I look at him, smile, wink, and take off.

I hear Jacob getting on his bike and I'm getting the hang of it. And suddenly... there he is. Cullen Schmullen, the vampire looking like death froze over! Or is it hell? Humans and their sayings!

Maybe my mind is making this up? Maybe he's not really here, and is just a ghost, a manifestation of what remains of Bella Swan's spirit and the promise she made? Maybe...

Damn it! I've fallen after hitting the bike against a tree; that's what I get for getting sidetracked. My head hurts, something warm and liquid trickles down my forehead. I'm bleeding; Jacob's fast and is already all over me, settling me on his lap, him sitting on a stone. I gape at the easy, fluid way he takes off his sweater, making a compress out of it to gently dab my forehead.

I shut my mouth and, still admiring the hunk's ehem, I mean, Jacob's wonderfully shaped torso, I decide there and then not to remind him I heal fast and so I keep the wound open, bleeding, and relax into his body.

At the third consecutive sigh of obvious enjoyment, Jacob teases me.

"Enjoying yourself, Arwen d'Erley?"

"Why, yes! You make a wonderful couch, I really should replace the one in our living room with you." I smile. "But you shouldn't call me that. You might develop a habit difficult to explain to other people."

"I guess.", he grins, and suddenly becomes serious. "Isabella... what happened? You were getting the hang of it, but then you started looking everywhere except for..."

"I know." I get off his lap. "Please, don't get me wrong, Jacob, but... I think I'm having hallucinations or something."

I then tell Jacob about the "visions" of Edward Cullen.

"It's always him.", he mumbles, trembling.

"Jacob. Stop, stop it. I don't know Edward Cullen." he glares at me. "Honest. I have Bella's memories, but I want nothing to do with him, and he's not coming back! I'm not Bella! I'm... me!" I take his hand and make him face me, take his beautiful face in my hands. "And you are my mate, the blood to my heart. There is no one else, but you."

And so he locks his eyes to mine and then our lips timidly meet, then gently feel each other. The tenderness is such it brings tears to my eyes.

Then, the tenderness becomes something else entirely.

Lana Brown and Company

Eleniel [AN-pronounced as Ehl-een-ee-ell, the translation for this name is Cohava, which means star.] gazed at the immensity of the space in front of her. She glimpsed at Anira's back [AN-pronounced as Ah-neer-ah, Desiree, which means desired], who was heading towards the command room to join Naerdiel and worried.

Naerdiel, known among the humans as Lana Brown was, indeed, acting in a fitting way, proud of the meaning of her name: lady of sorrows. Poor Lana, poor Naerdiel.

"Eleniel!", I turn and face Sakura Kinomoto, who joins me, looking at the stars. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes." I sigh. "I never tire of it. I had forgotten how I loved to be up here."

"I guess you spent a lot of time back on Earth, huh?"

"Oh, most definitely!" I smile. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, I'm loving it, this ship is amazing! I was afraid I'd get cabin fever, but this is completely different from what I was expecting!"

"I'm glad you like it."

All of us are nearing thirty year old, except for Sakura, in her twenties. Anira brought her along, thinking the little human might enjoy the trip and be useful to herself and us. Plus, she was someone we could trust, being a mage.

"And the bathrooms! Or should I call them spas?", she sighs contentedly. "I don't think I ever pampered myself so much!"

"Yes, we Soul Wanders do like traveling in comfort. Since the ships are made of organic material, generated when we are in our purest form, you can do all sorts of things. Waterfalls, pools, forests, inside the ship, if you want to make a big one, that is."

"But if it's so advanced, why would you need a control room? I mean, isn't that a weakness? You can actually talk to the ship and make it do whatever you want from any point of it."

"Yes. But it's easier that way, especially when we have guests such as you, dear Sakura."

"I don't want to be a bother.", she smiles.

"Nonsense. Of course you're not."

We jump at the sudden voice and turn to at Naerdiel.

"Lana! I mean Naerdiel."

Lana smiles gently, wearing sadness like a heavy cloak.

"If something should go wrong with us, you can come back to the ship and command it. You already learned it in these 7 weeks that have passed." She pauses. "I came to ask you something.", says Lana.

"Anything!", answers Sakura.

"Careful, now.", teases Anira. "You don't know what we are going to ask!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's something I can handle!" we all laugh at her humour.

"Sakura, I had told you we were going down, to a planet."

Yes, Naerdiel did tell her that. And it was settled that, should some kind of trouble surge, that Sakura was to remain cloaked, hidden, and use her staff and her magical powers to travel in time and space with us, to escape. Temporarily, of course.

Then and there I should have known. I should have known we never should have left the ship.

I should have known that everything was about to go horribly wrong and that our lives would change forever.

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