The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.
AN: Sorry for the delay. If you know me (or have read my stories before) you know that when it gets toward the end I go through the 5 Stages of Grief. My goal is to finish this up this weekend because as several friends have told me - I do have a gazillion other WIPs to finish. :D
Leah felt a little better after her heart-to-heart with Emily. She liked to think that Emily felt better too. While forgetting would be an impossible task; forgiving wasn't.
Growing up, her family hadn't been overly religious. It was more a blending of Christian values and the old ways. The spirits would provide—they had the answers and questioning them was considered to be taboo. How could mere mortals understand the inner workings of how the divine ruled?
Forgiveness, she was sure was somewhere in the stories of their ancestors, but it was the Christian teachings which she remembered. They had sporadically attended church as her mom's job meant weekends were often spent working, catching up household chores, or spending time with extended family.
Either way, she had done it—it being forgiving Emily, but Seth—he was another matter entirely. As if there wasn't enough going on right now and then he had to, how did Paul describe it, go Alpha male on the pack. She wasn't completely sure, but it made sense that they didn't just turn into giant wolves and track and kill vampires without any type of training. How where they going to learn how to do that if half the pack couldn't be around her?
Approaching the door to her father's room, she sighed. She knew Old Quil wanted to talk to her—them about something to do with Sopiya. She hadn't much time to think about it, but she could remember bits and pieces of stories her grandparents had told her and Seth before their deaths.
She knocked gently, swinging the door open at the same time. The atmosphere wasn't what she was expecting. Seeing the occupants laughing and smiling seemed abnormal considering all the things that occurred in the past 24 hours. It was official—this was The Twilight Zone, La Push style.
Sue was the first to acknowledge her presence, embracing Leah in a tight hug. "Leah…"
She could smell the salty tang of her mom's tears before feeling them on her cheek. It was so hard to find the right words to say because it didn't matter how low she whispered them—Seth would hear. This wasn't the time or place to set him off.
So, she returned the hug with equal fervor and softly whispered, "I know." Her two words summing it all up—how close they had been to losing Harry, the changes in Seth, and ultimately the realization that nothing would ever be the same. It was like when Pandora opened the box—you couldn't forget the things that happened. She let her mom cry, patting her back soothingly. When her mom's tears turned to sniffles, she released her and looked around the room her gaze stopping on her brother.
Seth was frowning and without meaning to she glared at him. It wasn't his fault, but at the moment he became the focus of her ire.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"It must be something."
"Let it go, Seth. How I look at people doesn't mean anything, okay?"
"Whatever you started it," he replied peevishly.
She shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the subject. She walked over to her dad, leaning down she hugged him and kissed his cheek. Her words softly uttered, "We'll come back tomorrow and check on you. I love you, dad."
"Alright, honey," he replied, hugging her a bit tighter to him. "You'll be careful?"
Pulling away she snorted at his question, "You shouldn't be worried about me."
Old Quil chortled at her veiled threat toward her brother while Harry choked on his laughter. "I guess not. Do try and remember that he's young."
"I'll try," she promised, grinning wickedly. "Mom, you okay without having a vehicle here tonight?"
"That's fine. When you come and visit tomorrow maybe one of the boys could bring my car here?"
"Sure," she answered, giving her mom a quick hug before turning to her brother. "Let's go, Seth."
"Who made you the boss of me," he grumbled.
"I've always been the boss of you."
"Well, I'm not going. I just got here."
She was half expecting foot stomping to accompany his tantrum. Crossing her arms she growled slightly, her voice firm, "Yes, you are."
"No," he told her, copying her stance.
"This isn't about what you want. This is about what is best for dad—and at this moment it's rest. While I'd love to argue with you about this—I'm not going to. You weren't the one who got to feel dad's ribs breaking or watch them jolt electricity through him to restart his heart."
"It's not my fault! You could've woken me up!"
Sue rushed over to Seth's side. "No one said it was your fault, honey. It's been a long day for all of us. Just listen to your sister, please."
His tremors subsiding as he released his clenched fists. An unknown instinct urged him to stay calm—to be protective of the people in the room. He turned toward his mom, noticing for the first time that day how much smaller she was next to him.
It didn't matter though, he turned those big brown puppy dog eyes on her; his lower lip thrust forward in a pout and used his best pleading voice, "Mom…just for a little longer."
"No, Seth. In this instance, your sister's right. Your dad needs his rest. Tomorrow's soon enough to visit him."
He turned and glared at his older sister who stuck her tongue out at him. "Told you so," she mouthed at him.
Within minutes goodbyes were said and the four of them were walking out the door. Paul was waiting for them in the lobby, jingling the car keys in front of Quil's face. Quil stopped and gazed at his grandfather; hurt evident on his face.
"Grandpa—you let him drive? You never let me drive," he whined.
"Course he did, Quil. He knows I got the skills to treat that beast like a princess," Paul remarked, smirking.
Old Quil chuckled at the boys antics. "How about this…whoever's first to the car can drive home."
He had barely finished his sentence before the two boys were out the door; racing each other to the car. Nearly too late Leah remembered that Quil had the keys to her car and her and Seth would be walking home if she didn't get them back from him. So she tore off after them, leaving Seth and Old Quil alone.
Seth slowed his pace down to match the older man's. A thick silence crept between them and he got the feeling that Old Quil had something to say, but wasn't sure how to. The feel of Old Quil's cool hand on his arm had him stopping and he stared down at the wrinkled, thin flesh. Either his skin was incredibly hot or Old Quil's was ice cold. He wasn't sure which it was but either one was abnormal.
Old Quil swallowed once; suddenly nervous and unsure of whether this was the right thing to do. Craning his neck he gazed up and met Seth's eyes; noticing the lingering questions that remained there. The next words he spoke were low and in the language of their ancestors—Quileute. A language that had been nearly forgotten by the tribe as it was spoken so infrequently.
"The wolf which lingers inside this boy—who are you?"
"I am nothing more than a man. A man who realized his mistakes too late," Seth replied back in perfect Quileute; though the accent and tenor wasn't his.
"You must give him back his memories of all that has occurred—else she will do it for you. It cannot be safe for the pack to be disjointed like they are. He did not know what he did."
"No—but it matters not. I was not the one to make the order, he was. Only he can reverse it. And while we may help them to accept their wolves—it is their own nature which allows them to keep hidden things which they are not ready for."
"What of the imprint? The one on the hokwat?"
"I know nothing of that."
All too soon their conversation was interrupted by Leah's voice, "What are you two doing?"
Old Quil jumped guiltily away from Seth while Seth shook his head in confusion. His eyes nearly black when he turned and looked at her; the darkness fading from them and returning to their normal coffee color.
"Huh?"
"Never mind," she answered. "Quil, we'll come over later to talk to you." In the next moment, she grabbed her brother's arm and started tugging him toward the car.
"Let's go, Seth."
FF_8756144_27 01/19/13 1:39AM