Chapter 14 – My Place

"Can I come with you? Please? Please, please, please!"

Once again, Pili was clinging to my arm and bouncing up and down. I looked at Rebecca for an answer. She nodded. "That's okay. Don't lose him there." I saw that she wasn't really concerned about that, but we both knew Pili.

"Fine. You can come. But it's so early you'll have to get up before the sun rises."

"That's okay."

"You won't be grouchy? If you are, I'll leave you here.", I threatened.

"I won't. Promise!", he said quickly, his eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Tomorrow is a school day.", Rebecca added. "You'll be here in time for going to school, but there'll be consequences if you're throwing any tantrums about going there." She gave him a stern look.

"When do we go?", he asked, unconcerned.

"The plane arrives at 4 a.m. We'll have to get up at 3 a.m.", Rebecca explained. "That means, you're going to bed right now." She ruffled his hair and smiled at him.

For once, he didn't talk back. Instead, he yawned. It was a good thing I'd worn him out by scouting through the forest all day. That was clearly what a little boy needed.

I followed his good example and went to bed early. I really hadn't had much sleep last night, so it would be great to get some sleep now, when I had to get up early the next day. And, who knew how much time for sleep there would be once the fighting started...

This night, I had a strange dream.

At first, there was the same familiar scene of Sam, looking at me from bitter eyes, then turning around and leaving me alone.

But there was a difference in my own role in the nightmare.

Usually, I found myself screaming, reaching out for him, begging him to stay, with my words being blown away by the wind, my hands clutching at nothing.

This time, I stood still. Tears streamed down my face. I felt like my heart was being torn out, taken with him as he left.

But then, I realized what I hadn't seen all these times I'd dreamed this dream over the last four years.

He didn't take my heart with him. What hurt me was my own strive to throw it at him, to use it to convince Sam to stay. That was what really caused the pain.

I woke.

My eyes popped open. It was quiet inside of me, peaceful even.

I got up and went to the window, opening it to let the cool breeze in. As I gazed out into the darkness, I could breathe deeply in and out. Thinking of Sam without the bitter craving for it to be real. I thought of our time again. The time when he had been my Sam. Then, I tried to smile at the thought that he was happy with Emily. That was harder. I could still feel the jealousy gnaw at me.

But it was easier than it had been ever before. I left the window wide open and padded over to my bed. I lay down, wrapping my arms around my blanket for whatever reason, and smiled up at the ceiling. I had, in a way, found a new place to be, a new one aside from where I'd stood before.

This was a beginning. I was beginning to forgive Sam, to forgive myself, to set myself free from the claim some part of me screamed life owed me. I fell asleep, and I didn't dream anything until the alarm clock startled me awake in the middle of the night, as it felt.

Well-rested though I'd hardly slept much this night, I jumped out of bed before I could decide otherwise.

I jogged over to Pili's room to get fully awake.

"Pili. It's time."

"Huh?"

I went to remove his blanket, which made him stir and start grunting.

"It's time to go to the airport, Pili.", I stated to make myself clear.

This did its job. He sat up, blinked a few times, then he jumped out of bed so agilely he almost crossed half of the room, and immediately, he seemed to be wide awake. I laughed.

"Come on. Get dressed already. You have to eat breakfast very fast."

He was excited enough that he did what he was told without complaining. Grinning, I prepared an easy breakfast. Soon after Pili had started shoving cornflakes into his mouth, Rebecca came through the door, too.

I smiled at her, remembering my dream after our conversation from yesterday morning.

"I didn't dream nightmares this night.", I told her quietly. She beamed at me. "That's great, Lee. I'm happy for you. Never stop believing in yourself."

Pili put up a new personal record in eating breakfast on a school day (of which I didn't remind him). We were sitting in the car just in time. Kaili was still asleep, so Rebecca decided not to disturb her sleep rythm. Mikala was still at home, she could wake him up if she needed anything.

Rebecca let me drive, sitting in the passenger seat and giving directions. Pili was on the back seat, chattering excitedly. After a while, I tuned his babbling out to concentrate on the traffic.

"There! There!" Pili somehow managed to jump up and down on his seat. "Look! A plane!"

Rebecca gave me directions on how to find the parking lot. I glanced at the car clock before switching off the engine. Ten to four. Just in time to find the terminal and everything. Rebecca insisted that Pili should hold on to her hand. She didn't want to lose him in the crowds. The boy had a hard time not to break free to run around and see the planes and all the other interesting things a five year-old could suck up like a sponge.

We found the terminal and sat down to wait. After some minutes of watching Pili fidgeting on his seat, I decided to let him off the hook. "Come on, Pili. We're going to take a look at what the ground crews are doing out there." Pili all but exploded from the seat, grabbed my hand nd towed me toward the big window. "Wow. Do you see that big plane? They're so small when they're up in the sky... but so big when they're on earth..." He flatted his nose in the attempt to see as much as possible. "Look!" He pointed his finger to a plane that was about to start. It began to move forward, gaining speed. We had a great panorama view here. I found myself pressing my nose next to his against the glass to watch the plane as it detached from the ground and took off. It was easy to empathize, to share the fascination of the boy. Natural.

Suddenly, I was interrupted by someone patting my shoulder in a very familar manner. I spun around.

"Seth!", I exclaimed. He grinned at me. I embraced him and he returned a warm bear hug. After that, I shoved him an armlength away to look at him. Had he grown again? He didn't look like seventeen. He looked like... twenty-five at least. Older than me.

He met my stare. "What?", he laughed.

"You've grown again." It sounded like an accusation.

He raised one eyebrow at me. "Is that a federal crime?"

I laughed. "No. Just... strange. Just the same, whenever you see someone you haven't seen in a while."

Now it was his time to laugh. "Leah... it's been hardly more than one week."

"Oh, right. But... it's still a long time considering that you're a werewolf. I still think you grew.", I muttered.

"Fine."

Finally, I turned my attention to Embry. "Hey."

He, too, gave me a hug, and then he switched to duty mode. "When's it going to start? Any patrols planned for today? We need to give Jacob a report as soon as possible."

"Give it a rest. We're patrolling tomorrow, then we'll let Jacob know. As soon as the whole pack is here, we'll get started. We're in a hurry, yes. The earlier we act, the sooner it'll be safe. But being hasty..."

Embry grinned. "You're still a good second-in-command, concerning strategy and everything."

I smiled at the compliment.

By now, Seth was all ears again. "I want to go to that vampire place. Do you think there's an army?"

"Why would there be?", I asked back. It made no sense to me. Maybe Jacob should ask his favorite leeches., I thought sarcastically, but then... the idea wasn't half bad. I would suggest that.

"I don't know. But if there are more than seven... maybe even young ones...", Seth mused.

"Oh, crap!", I shouted, making both boys look at me in confusion. I looked over to the window where Pili should have been. I turned around, searching the place for Rebecca. She wasn't there, either. Hopefully, she was with Pili.

"Rebecca's son should have been here. Now, he isn't. There's a five year-old on the loose now.", I explained.

"Leah?", I heard Rebecca's voice behind me. I turned around, only to meet her own searching eyes. "Have you seen Pili?"

Oh no. We had a problem now.

"No.", I answered, almost panically.

"Shh.", Rebecca soothed me. "We just have to go searching for him."

I nodded, still concerned and feeling guilty. We made two groups, Rebecca took Embry with her while I headed for the stairs down with my brother. I had a kind of precognition that he might try to get as close to the airplanes as possible.

"Excuse me, Miss." An airport staff member blocked my way when I reached the door ahead of Seth.

I shot him a pleading glance without even seeing his face. "Please. I've lost a five year-old boy here. I need to see if..."

"Sorry. You can't go out onto the airfield. Staff members only."

"But..." I ran out of words to say, so Seth had to help me out.

"Mister, maybe he found a way to sneak out onto the place. He wanted to see the airplanes and he managed to slip out of our sight."

"That's not my fault.", the man said, visibly defensive upon sight of a big guy like Seth. To me, it took some getting used to it – my brother, the intimidating, huge... grown up man.

"It might be dangerous out there." Seth searched for the staff man's eyes.

"It is. I can't let you go there."

Now Seth had him. "But you can let a little boy stay there by himself."

The man realized that his logic was crumbling. "I'll go see.", he offered.

"Could we please come with you?"

He sighed, but surrendered. When we stepped out into the bright sunlight of the airfield, I realized that if Pili was anywhere, he was here. But I couldn't see him anywhere.

"Is it possible that he might have... climbed into an airplane?", Seth asked.

The man shrugged. "I wonder how he should have gotten here anyway."

We headed for the nearest machine. Suddenly, a message was given via the loud speakers.

"Five year-old Pili Hookano is being missed and should come to an information point as soon as possible."

So Rebecca had taken the official option. I wondered if this was of any use.

The staff member that accompanied us turned around and gestured for us to come back with him.

We didn't bother. I was sure Pili had to be here. I tried to go by scents, but the air was only filled with fuel smell. I couldn't make out the boy I was searching.

In addition, it was so loud that I couldn't make out his voice, either. Seth kept looking around, his eyes scanning the place.

Suddenly, he strode off towards a helicopter close to us. The staff man tried to hold him back, but Seth didn't care about it. He stepped towards the door and pulled down the handle. The door opened with a creak and I could see into the face of a little boy totally absorbed by sitting there in the pilote's seat and looking out the front window.

I rushed forward and crushed him into my arms. "Pili!", I shouted in relief, pulling him out of the helicopter. I was too relieved for a severe lecture. Reluctantly, Pili let me tow him back across the airfield, quieter than usual. We walked next to the staff guy, who stomped his way with an annoyed glare on his face.

When we reached the door, Seth turned toward the man to smile at him. "Thank you. We appreciate your help.", he told him, very politely. He got back a dull stare, but he just shrugged and we went back up the stairs.

Pili had found his voice by now. "Wow, those airplanes are so big out there. I wanted to sit in one, but I couldn't find a way to... so I sat in the helicopter all by myself. It's so cool, I want my own helicopter one day..."

I pressed my lips shut to not start laughing. He didn't even seem to know what a shock he'd brought us. He still thought it was awfully cool.

Seth grinned at me. I rolled my eyes. Sure, he would have done the same at Pili's age.

We made our way to the next information point to announce that we had found him, and they sent us to where we would find Rebecca and Embry.

When Becky saw us, she rushed over to embrace her son, breathing out in relief.

When she pulled back, I was surprised about the stern, even angry look on her face.

"Pili. Just you wait till your father gets to know. You know exactly that you're not allowed to go away from us like that. I believe that was the last time of taking you to an airport for a while." Pili flinched. "I'm sorry... please?", Pili mumbled sheepishly now.

"Look at the clock.", she told him. "If not for this, you'd be in time for school. But now, you'll be late."

That didn't entirely bother Pili, of course, but he was ashamed anyway.

We made our way to the car, all quiet now. The guys were silent, too. Rebecca dropped her son off at school, then drove us home.

She was the first one to break the silence. "Please don't think I'm being to hard on Pili.", she said, sort of apologetically. "I'm trying to rein him in, but sometime's it's like herding cats."

Seth waved that aside, shrugging. "That's okay, I suppose. He's a boy." He turned from the frontseat to grin at me. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Seth was that way, too. Gave Mum and Dad – and me – a lot work to do." I laughed, and this time it was Seth's turn to roll his eyes. At least, all of us were more at ease now.

"There we are.", Rebecca announced when we reached the house. "Welcome." She smiled at our guests and then at me.

When we stepped into the house, we were greeted by Mikala and Kaili. When the girl saw me, she squealed in delight, and my heart was given another slight nudge of love for that little child. There was just no way to resist her charme. Mikala gave her to me, and I touched my nose to hers. "Hello, kiddie.", I crooned, which made her laugh. Once again, I was in my place, a place I belonged.