Slowly, at first. The world was still spinning, and everything was blurry. But as it fell into focus, I looked around, and was startled to see where I was.

I sat up.

Where was I?

I rubbed at my eyes, and looked around.

At one time, this might have been a store. But it had long been abandoned. The roof was gone, and bare walls stood, cracking and dying, like skeletons against the pale sky.

The floor was broken and dirty, with weeds and bushes and trees grown into it. Taken over by the wilderness, the store was utterly empty and dead. I shivered as I looked around. Only a doorway and windows remained; the glass still in-tact, though scratched and weathered.

I slowly got up, and under the bare doorway. No door. No bolts. Just a dead, empty store, taken over by time.

Time. My dream.

I felt doubt suddenly wash over me. Had I really gone into the past? It was all so crazy, so surreal. If I had gone into the past, then why was this shop dead and empty? I didn't imagine meeting the old man here. That was impossible.

I'd woken up laying in the middle of a dead store, for God's sake. It's not like I just walked in here and fell asleep. Right?

Proof. I needed proof to show the doubt that I'd been in the past, that I'd met Elijah, that it hadn't all just been a dream. Oh- the pocket watch! Of course!

Quickly, I reached into my jeans pocket, and found... nothing.

I stared, feeling empty all of a sudden. So where was my proof?

"Gone," I murmured.

Maybe it had all been a dream after all.

Sighing, I gazed out at the empty street, and across it, where I had last left my parents. Shopping for antiques they didn't need. Sure enough, through the glass windows, there they were, hauling brown bags. I smiled as I saw them, feeling joy surge over me.

Home.

I could barely think as I walked across the street, gazed at my parents, and gave them a long hug, knowing I would never let go again.

The sun surprised me by trickling down through the trees, weak rays of sunlight making their way through the forever-cloudy Washington sky.

I drove silently under the canopy of green leaves, listening carefully. I was here for one reason, and one reason only. I was in the car with my parents; we'd just come back from the antique town, and I'd insisted we drive to visit Jake before heading home. They talked quietly in the back-seat, laughing and admiring as they got out their new antiques.

Finally, after the final curve in the road had finished, the trees thinned out on both sides, and I pulled up on the reservation.

"I haven't been here in awhile," Mom remarked, smiling as she dropped the old cup she was holding and opened her door.

"I don't really care to come down here much," Dad added. Mom rolled her eyes.

Grinning, I opened the door with more force than necessary, and stepped onto the hard ground. The air was cold and fresh, and I closed my eyes, inhaling it like it was some sort of drug. The smells of trampled grass, salty ocean, and dog greeted me with open arms.

I shut the door to the car, and began running towards the reservation. I could hear voices, and I knew it was my boys.

I skirted over the rocks and roots, and came to a stop on a small ledge that gave way to the beach. Water crashed down in salty, foamy hands, and I saw Jacob with several of his Quileute friends romping around in the water, purposefully soaking each other in an effort to make someone mad. It didn't seem to be working.

As soon as I saw Jacob, a stupid grin splayed over my face, and I bit my lip from the sudden wave of excitement that crashed over me. I got that silly, little-girl feeling in my stomach, and couldn't help but laugh to myself. Jacob. My Jacob. It felt like ages since I'd seen him, and I hadn't missed him enough.

I stood there, the wind blowing my hair, and gazed down at him. As if sensing my eyes, Jake looked up, and saw me standing on the rocks a ways off. Even from the distance, I saw the surprised, but completely delighted smile cross his brazen face, and he began jogging towards me.

"Nessie?" he laughed, leaping up the rocks easily. And suddenly, he was there. A rush of joy whispered through me as I honestly felt complete again. I wasn't sure what was going on lately... but I did know one thing. After all that doubt and confusion, I understood.

I loved Jake, and no one else. Never.

"Jake," I murmured, slipping my hands around his rock-hard, delightfully sculpted torso. I put my cheek on his wet chest, and closed my eyes, drinking in his scent. "I missed you."

Never one to deny a hug, he wrapped his arms around my waist, and laughed, kissing the top of my curls. "Ness, I saw you this morning, remember? You just went into town for the day with your parents. Did they find all the antique crap they could ever possibly need?"

I laughed, pulling back and brushing my fingers over his jawline. "Yes, they did. And... I don't know. It's just felt so much... longer," I sighed.

Jacob frowned down at me. "Baby, what's wrong? You look upset."

I shook my head. Dream or not... something happened back at that antique shop. And I knew nobody could ever know about it. I felt a bit of sadness at the thought of never seeing Elijah again... at letting that world go. But it was the past. It was done.

"I'm fine," I promised him. He was a good foot taller than me, so I bounced up on my toes, and kissed him. I could feel his puzzlement at how I was acting, but I didn't really care. I was home, and as far as I minded, I could act a fool and never think twice.

When we broke away, there were whoops and dog-cries from the other boys. Jake and I glanced over, and saw them all piled by the rocks, watching and laughing at us. Jake smirked, and grabbed my head, planting another kiss on my lips while raising his fist and flashing them the birdie. I heard amused laughter from his pack.

"Want to hang out tonight?" Jake asked quietly, eyes grinning.

"Absolutely," I murmured, listening to his heart-beat. Once, twice, thrice...

"It's a date," he snickered, but his eyes were warm and loving as his lips found mine again.

"You know," Bella said as she strolled with Edward under the thinning trees before it let out onto the beach. "It's uncanny, how much Nessie's beginning to resemble..."

"I know," Edward agreed, watching as his daughter laughed and wrapped her arms around Jacob Black's broad shoulders, a ways off. "Almost unnerving, really. I still remember the night she disappeared... remember? It was our first dance together, and she simply left without a goodbye. She was always a mysterious one, that girl."

"But a good person," his wife replied. "She disappeared the night of the dance, I recall... and that Elijah Maley boy. He was very different after she left... I imagine it had something to do with her," she remarked, as if in an afterthought.

Edward blinked, and held Bella's hand a little tighter. "Well, wherever she is, I hope she's had a good life. I owe her a lot, you know. It's thanks to her that we fell in love," he smiled, eyes gentle as he gazed at Bella. She chuckled and pressed against him.

"Edward, look at that!" Bella exclaimed suddenly, pointing. He frowned, and glanced over to where she was pointing. There, in a small bunch, were flowers. Beautiful flowers, the color of blood, with petals like crescent moon holding hands.

"How strange. I haven't ever seen those before," Edward murmured.

Bella bent down, and gently plucked one of the strange bloodred flowers from its bunch, closing her eyes as she smelled it. "It's like velvet," she sighed. "I've smelled this before, though..."

She paused, frowning, as if trying to remember. "Oh, well. It's probably nothing."

~F i v e

M o n t h s

L a t e r~

I sat on the soft grass, gazing at the setting sun. It was beautiful, with fiery colors, as if a burning phoenix was bleeding into the sky. My ankles crossed, arms propping me up comfortably, the wind softly blew my curly hair, muttering softly in my ear.

From my right, came crunching, like someone was stepping over coarse grass. I looked over quickly, heart leaping, and a little smile played across my face. I knew that mop of blond hair and those soft gray eyes anywhere.

"You're late," I remarked, feeling happiness lift in my heart. After all those times of waiting, it had paid off.

"Speak for yourself," Elijah shot back, but looked happy to see me. Without saying anything else, he settled down beside me on the grass, and sighed, staring at the setting sun as well. We sat in peaceful silence for a moment or two.

"I've missed you," Elijah said at long last, staring uncomfortably at his hands as he spoke.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "It's better that we went separate ways," I replied firmly.

He nodded, and opened his mouth to say something. But he didn't. He simply gazed at me, eyes soft.

I sighed, and sank back onto the grass. Elijah peered down at me, and did the same. We stretched out on the grass, and gazed up at the sky, which was darkening quickly. Behind me was a huge tree. It was very old now, and it was like a good friend to me, waiting night after night for a long time. Ancient and gnarled, it curled and bloomed toward the flaming sky, its huge, twisted roots serving as pillows as I lay my head back.

I gazed over at Elijah. He was laying peacefully, eyes closed, his stomach moving up and down gently with his breathing. On his stomach, he rested a hand. I stared at it, then caught the pale flesh in my hand, and turned his wrist over. There was a faint scar there, a few degrees colder than the rest of his skin. Elijah opened his eyes and watched me.

"Whenever I doubt what happened... whenever I wonder if it was a dream..." Elijah said, voice quiet, "I look at that scar. And I know it must have been true. All of it."

I dropped his wrist, and lay back down. "Of course it really happened."

We closed our eyes, and simply fell in rhythm to each other's gentle breathing. The wide, endless grassy land around us seemed to fade as I felt myself dropping off.

There came a sudden, booming bark. I jolted awake, and sat up, staring around in shock. Where was the grass? Where was Elijah? I blinked, realization settling in. It had all been just a dream.

Before I could feel the disappointment sink into my stomach like a stone, the loud bark ricketed off the walls again. I shifted on the huge bed, and glared out the window. There, staring at me with a huge, stupid grin on its face, was a brazen-colored wolf.

"Don't make me throw a shoe at you, mutt. I was sleeping perfectly until you woke me up," I grumbled loudly through the glass. In answer, the wolf stuck his wet nose on the window, and smeared it, as if mocking me. I crossed my arms and chuckled darkly.

"Go run off with your buddies. I'll be here, waiting for you," I told the wolf with a smirk.

The wolf, looking delighted, uttered a short bark and bounded away, his huge frame disappearing with several others into the thick forest around our house.

I sighed, and sunk down onto the bed. It had been a few months since I'd thought about Elijah, let alone dreamed of him. It had been so realistic... I curled my fingers around the soft blanket, thinking of the tree we'd leaned on. Maybe... just maybe... some dreams are more real than we think.

Smiling to myself, I lay back down, and gazed at the ceiling of mine and Jacob's room.

"Ness? You here?" came a sudden voice. I jumped up, and stuck my head out of the door. Edward and Bella had let themselves in, and appeared to be joining me for breakfast. Ever since I'd moved out with Jake, they'd had a bad habit of randomly barging in most days. Probably checking in that we weren't having too much fun owning our own place.

"Good morning," I greeted them, gracefully joining them at the table a few rooms down. Bella kissed me on the cheek, and then grabbed some pots and pans, preparing to make some kind of brilliant breakfast for me and Jake.

"Hi, Nessie," Edward said, a notch too loud. He had his Ipod in his ears (of everyone in the family, Edward loved music the most, and to him, the Ipod was somewhere up there with God) and was humming to the tune. I thought it sounded familiar, but with Edward's terrible singing voice, who knew what song he'd garbled up this time?

He paused, seeming to consider something, then turned suddenly, and began walking through the hallway, back to the bathrooms, most likely.

"What's up with Dad?" I inquired.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Don't ask me," she sighed, plopping some fat slices of bacon into the sizzling pan.

I chuckled, and got up, deciding to go throw on some decent clothes and get out of my pajamas. I thought about my dream the whole time. It had opened up thoughts I'd tried to box away months ago. Where was Elijah now? Was he happy?

Somehow... the dream had reassured me. Somehow, I knew he was okay without me.

Feeling a rare burst of warm contentedness wash over me, I passed by the bathroom on my way to the bedroom. I stopped dead, and backtracked, doing a double-take.

There was Edward, the bathroom door wide open. His Ipod buds snug in his ears and blasting at top volume, his eyes were screwed up as he frolicked and thrust his hips, as if trying to imitate choreography.

Edward was singing, clearly in his own little world where he was Beyonce. "If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it! Don't be mad once you see that he want it! Wo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh-"

It was here that Edward Cullen slipped on a bit of toilet water on the tiled floor, and came crashing down. He scrambled wildly, and make permanent damage to the toilet and the sink. Only when a hand frantically flashed out and smashed the faucet that water began spraying furiously, did the Ipod fall from his ears and clatter to the now-soaked floor.

I simply stood there, nonplussed and wondering how much money that would have gotten me on AFV.

Edward stared in utter horror, realizing I'd seen everything. He glanced at the water spraying from the faucet, and then he looked down at the toilet that now resembled Greek ruins.

There was a brief silence, broken only by the spray of icy water over the bathroom walls.

"I can pay for that," he said sheepishly.

A/N: Always good to go out with a laugh, that's what I'm told. Thank you so very much to everybody who has read, favorited, and reviewed this story. You all have been so supportive, and I've loved telling this story because you guys made it so much fun. You guys are brilliant, you know that? Some of the coolest people in the world. I'm really going to miss this story. It's been great to tell (:

So it's really done. Wow. Hard to believe. And I still can't believe that, thanks to ya'll, we've hit past 200 reviews. Thats just... wow. I love you guys... er, in a total, author-to-reader way... seeing's as we're actually all strangers... hah.

Thank you again, and I hope to hear from you all another time. Now go treat yourself, because you're an awesome person: grab from popcorn, and go watch Twilight. And be thinking about Elijah, Nessie, and red flowers the whole time.

~Sarafina