"So, you're kind of like Nessy, right?" Seth's question is a mess of genuine interest and nervousness.

Klaus raises a dispassionate eyebrow. Somehow I convinced the Original and his hybrid to stay for the rest of the festivities – mainly because of my promise to Seth, although a piece of me revels in the release I feel from the bindings I shared with Sam.

"What is a 'Nessy'?"

I give Klaus kudos for not totally ignoring my brother and his probing string of pointless questions. My stare is not-so-inconspicuously hidden behind a glass of lemonade; somehow I can feel his annoyance in the air between us.

"Oh, uh," Seth looks to me and I shrug – it was his question, he can explain it – Klaus already knows me to be more nosy than is probably healthy. My brother glances back at Klaus and visibly swallows. "She's a half-vampire, like, Bella was human and Edward was a vampire and they, you know."

Seth's face visibly flushes and I try not to choke on a sip of lemonade when Klaus's brow stays risen. "I'm afraid I do not."

"They…" he choughs and waves his hands around, "You know,"

I can practically see the next 'I don't' forming on Klaus lips and quickly lean forward. "Of course he does, Seth," I pin Klaus with a quick glance of amused berating. When I look back at Seth I mull over Klaus's past. "You don't really have to know this, do you?"

"He's your mate, Leah, as your brother I think I have an obligation to know-"

I cringe at the use of 'mate', as true as it may be in the world where imprints are normal, that doesn't mean I'm comfortable with Seth using the terminology around Klaus. "Not everyone wants to talk about their parentage."

"It's okay," Both Seth and I swivel to take in the miniature smirk gracing the Original's lips.

"It is?" I almost squeak.

"He's your brother, why should he not know?"

The answer burns like chilli on the tip of my tongue: the hybrid's long history of sibling betrayal making this scene all the more absurd.

"My father was a werewolf and my mother was human,"

"Hm, not like Ness,"Seth's face lights up, "But basically like us, except that our wolf line has been dormant for about a century that's when the Cullens came to town and suddenly everyone was bursting into four-paws and it was super cool although Leah will never admit it, but she was terrified at first-"

Seth stops babbling abruptly, his face twisting, showing an array of different emotions. I suck down my own responsive ones and divert the topic. "Where we're shapeshifters, Klaus is an actual werewolf - the mythical type."

"Hybrid," Klaus corrects me smoothly, ignoring the fairy-tale reference, and I roll my eyes, glad for his assistance in changing Seth's focus.

My own guilt and horror of that day still lingers – although, now I realise how different it must have been for Seth. "Hybrid," I amend around a sip of lemonade.

"A 'what' now?" My brother asks, his blues momentarily forgotten in the wake of new information.

"Vampire and werewolf," My soulmate explains.

"I thought you said your mother was a human."

"She was. I was turned into a vampire later in my life."

Seth's mouth forms a small donut ring, "So, if Nessy and Jacob had kids they'd end up like you?"

I shudder at the implication, "I don't want to think of that, besides don't say it too loud or Bella's going to go psycho-vampire on all our asses."

"Ah," My brother winces and looks around for the vampire in question – she isn't in the room, but there are enough ears that even a second hand comment could spell doom. He gives a nervous chuckle. "That wouldn't be good." He trails off and looks between Klaus and myself, the good two feet between us on the couch.

Somewhere in the distance I hear Hayley laugh and the sound makes me smile. At least she's enjoying herself – I have a feeling that she's laughing at another of the pack's expense though, besides she and Rosalie seemed to hit it off pretty well.

"Would Leah be a hybrid as well?"

My eyes seek out my brother once more, to frown. Klaus must have the same confusion on his face because Seth elaborates – his expression that of genuine curiosity.

"If you turned her into a vampire, she'd be a hybrid too wouldn't she? Because she's technically part wolf and the vampire transformation might make her, any of us really, into a so called 'hybrid'."

I blink at this, it had crossed my mind at some point, but I'd disregarded it on the simple basis of our wolf difference. Klaus on the other hand looks dumbfounded – quite a new expression on his chiselled features – an expression that indicates he's never had this thought, never lingered on the idea the way I'd obsessed over being the one thing he wanted more than all else. A hybrid. The only family he would accept.

"I…don't know." The indecision makes me jealous of my brother's question. Despite all the inquiries I've made, none have had Klaus this out of sorts before. The hybrid turns glassy blue eyes to meet mine. "I don't know,"

My breath catches, stumped by the wonder in his gaze.

Seth isn't the only person from my 'old life' that develops an interest in Klaus and Hayley. The good doctor curiously asks question after question, on quite a different topic to my brother's. One question in particular, directed at Hayley, has me chewing my inner cheek with jealousy.

"You are able to conceive aren't you?"

Hayley tilts her head and offers a sideways nod, somehow completely bypassing the strangeness of the question and getting straight to the matter. "I guess, why?"

Carlisle glances at me in a sort of empathy, "The shapeshifter line has been reserved mainly to male linage as far back as records go. Leah is one of a kind, to our knowledge, and as of yet we've been uncertain as whether she'll be capable of conceiving." His pale hands blur in the air, a gesture I remember as nothing more than a smudge from my days hospitalised just a few rooms over. "If we can establish similarities between your abilities I believe we may have a chance to give her this option – if she should ever wish it."

I stare at the vampire incredulously, touched that he had even thought of my future to such an extent and yet stunned that he would know my internal fears. Then again, I spent enough time around Nessy, contemplating this very issue months back that Edward was likely to pick up on my thoughts. I've never been subtle. Still, Carlisle's thoughtfulness warms my already above average body temperature and I need to remind myself that squeezing the daylights out of him wouldn't be seen as a thanks.

He must notice the flicker of emotion across my face; he smiles that smile that reminds me of poorly constructed hospital jokes and the coolness of his fingers against my forehead. A swell of affection asks me why I ever bothered leaving this fatherly figure, despite the answer sitting right beside me. "Of course it's the speculations of an old man, but having seen Rose struggle with the inability to have children too, I want to do all I can to help Leah. If I can isolate the reproductive gene in the werewolf line perhaps we can formulate an irritant to awaken the same gene in the shapeshifter gene."

Hayley blinks owlishly, her confusion evident. "You can do that?"

Carlisle's brows rise, "I can certainly try. Besides, we've got a lot of time on our hands and there's no rush to have it perfected immediately. I'd rather be certain of the outcome, run a few tests, before we even think of offering Leah the option."

I can feel when Klaus looks at me, whether he's thinking of his earlier conversation with Seth and the bizarre revelation of a new type of hybrid or he's actually considering the possibility of what Carlisle is saying, I'll never know. Perhaps he's amused by the prospect of me ever finding anyone who'd want to have a child with me.

I shuffle forward in the seat nervously and push myself up. "Anyone want something to drink?"

Both males shake their heads but Hayley requests some cranberry juice with all the mischievousness of a toddler eating her mother's lipstick. I try not to read too much into it, knowing Hayley there's all manners of things that could be floating around her mind.

At the drinks table Renesme slides up beside me and deftly follows my motions of pouring some juice.

"That's your imprint?" she questions in a voice low enough that it might actually escape the majority of the vampires' ears.

"Yeah," I peak down at her, curious as to the whisper. The girl's face is mildly flushed and her eyes keep darting around as if expecting trouble. "Something wrong, kid?"

She shakes her head and sticks out a hand; automatically I grasp the cool limb. The world transforms in a blur of unfamiliar colour, the air smells like apples, there's warmth spreading across my arm. Words ring in my ears and leave me feeling giddy, bright, and so happy I could probably explode. Equally warm lips brush over my forehead and I find myself grinning.

Just as quickly as it had come, it disappears.

Nessy's face is alight with childish embarrassment and her bottom lip has been caught between pearly teeth. Her eyes tell a different story; they ask so many questions.

They grow up so fast.

My lips twitch in response and I wrap an arm around the girl's shoulders, allowing her bony figure to press into my side. What have they been feeding this thing? "It's similar, if you must know, but not the same. When you're older it feels different, less…earth-shattering maybe." Her hand raises to rest where mine is against her shoulder, but no images, no memories follow. Instead the touch is nothing but the curious comfort of another being.

"Why?"

I shrug, somewhat disappointed in the lack of sharing. "I don't know." It could be the pain that laces adult relationships, the complexity of loving someone who could never love you back. But for her, for Nessy, maybe her feelings will stay this warm and fluffy, innocent. Neither Jacob nor Nessy could possibly stray from their connection, not when it's been nurtured form before they first laid eyes on one another. "It's nice though," I amend finally, gazing out one of the glass walls into the surrounding shadowed forest. I can feel the imagined whisper of Klaus lips over the top of my head. "Kisses, though. Those never change. They'll always feel good."

A flood of sound overflows my thoughts: it's the joyous chanting of a campfire song and across the tiny clearing Charlie and mom share an endearing kiss. Alice presses her lips to Esme's grinning cheek at some party. Emmet smothers Rose's face in kisses and the vampire giggles hysterically while trying to fend him off. Nessy receives a smattering of kisses from both her parents at the same time.

Then there's Klaus and I. I'm wrapped around him like white on rice; his arms surround me and hold on to my shirt in a way I don't recall from earlier. It happens so fast that I hardly see it, but Klaus's lips brush my hair. And standing with the Halfling somewhat three hours later I can feel the tingle of that spot, from root to tip.

If my eyes burn from the scenes witnessed by this child, well, let it be known I don't regret it.

"I'm glad you found someone, Leah,"

I blink down at the child in my arms, mystified by her power to leave me speechless every time she does this. I wrap my other arm around her and hug her tight, wondering how it's possible for such a precious creature to exist. With my cheek on her curly head, I breathe a sigh of longing, Carlisle's words float around my head like tasty morsels of a dish gone out of stock.

A child. One of my own. Preferably as dear as the one in my arms. Klaus and my child.

"Thanks, kid," I whisper into her locks and she nods against me.

It's nice. I can't find a better word for it, I don't think there's enough words to describe it. Nessy awakens the sliver of me that still hopes, still dreams, just as she had when I could hardly see and she showed me colour. She saved me from myself back then and could it be possible for her to be saving me here again?

I hold her tight, praying that somehow she could be mine, that somehow the child in my arms could belong to me for once.

Seconds trickle by and movement from the corner of my eye makes me pull back slightly. Emmet settles down next to Carlisle, who seems to still be consumed in quizzing the hybrids. Right before me Nessy's face has calmed considerably and I fill a glass of cranberry juice for Hayley.

"I'm glad you came back with us," the girl tells me, sipping at her own beverage seemingly unaffected at our exchange. Her eyes flicker to Klaus and Hayley across the room.

"Me too," I say.

Nessy turns wide eyes to examine my face, her voice stronger now. "He can do it, you know. Carlisle," she amends at my raised brow. "Grandpa is really smart, if anyone can do it, he can. He healed you the last time, so he can do it this time too."

"Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be as easy as resetting my bones,"

Her small shoulders bob in a shrug, "You'll never know if you don't try."

I snort. "When did you get so wise?"

"I learnt a lot when you were away," her grin is a perfect mixture of shy and impish, "I'm actually really good at math and English. Grandpa Carlisle says if I really want to I could be a teacher one day. I'd like that."

"Oh really?" First, it was virtually impossible to imagine the kindly doctor as 'grandpa', but as for Nessy as a teacher? I could imagine it easily. It's hard not to love the kid, and I could see her teaching my own child one day. I shake my head of those thoughts. Don't get ahead of yourself, Leah. I nudge the girl's shoulder. "You can do it; I think you'll be good at it,"

Hayley's eyes meet mine across the room.

I pat Nessy on the head and take care not to spill the hybrid's drink on the pristine marble floor.

"I don't like him,"

The wall is cool against my back and three steps away Sam radiates heat like a furnace. I roll my eyes and nibble on a carrot, "You don't know him." I pause to point the vegetable in Sam's direction. "Not that your opinion matters,"

He reciprocates my eye roll and for a moment I almost find it endearing, I scrub my mind instantly of any such sentiments. I've come too far to let old habits rule me.

"As your friend-"

He flinches at my glare, combs a hand through his hair, and tries a second time.

"As a…former pack member, I think I know a little of what kind of people you should spend your time with."

This time I abandon my carrot in favour of glaring a hole through his head. "You do, do you? I don't think you have any right to tell me how I should do anything. After everything…" I hold up a hand and shake my head, near biting off my tongue in the process. I step away from the wall, turning to confront him where I feel less trapped. "You know what? No. I am not having this conversation with you. You don't deserve an explanation and I, sure as rain, don't need to justify myself to you of all people."

"Leah," He begins, reaching out as if to placate a testy animal.

I jerk my arm out of reach, internally snarling and yapping at him to stay away from another Alpha's property. "He's my mate. My imprint, you of all people should know what that means."

Sam flinches, "You know I never meant to hurt you back then-"

"Don't," I warn. "Don't ruin whatever little good I still see in you."

His hand snapes forward and captures my wrist, every inch of my body bristles and tenses.

"Let go," I hiss.

"Damn it, Leah! I'm not trying to make things worse. If you would just listen to me-"

"Best you take your hands off her, mate."

My chest seems to swell.

Sam's eyes focus over my shoulder. His fingers slacken but don't lose their hold. The internal battle is displayed clearly on his face: to give in to an opposing Alpha or to challenge their authority? In one way I'm hell bent on seeing Klaus smash Sam's face in, but I also recognise the possibility of Klaus being hurt in return.

I jerk my hand down, easily breaking Sam's hold and stepping backward. Klaus's presence is like a frigid waterfall at my back. "It's almost dawn,"

I sense more than see the way Klaus continues to eye Sam like caked mud on his favourite white shirt. Sam's acts no better.

Men.

"You should go wake Emily soon. The Cullens said they wanted an early start and Sue will be here with Charlie within an hour or two."

The glaring continues for a minute and, I'm seriously considering just leading Klaus away, when Sam spins on his heel and marches off. I allow myself a breath of respite, one I hadn't even realised I was holding.

Klaus hovers by my shoulder a moment longer.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Ha," I turn slowly, sculpting my face into one of nonchalance. "Funny you should ask that."

His crystalline eyes chip away at my façade. "It was not what I meant."

The smallest of smiles pull at the corners of my mouth. "I know, but thanks for asking."

"Your wrist?"

"Still attached and functional," I wave my hand at him to prove my case and for a split second I'm sure something akin to relief glows in his gaze – but that could be the beer I drank a short while back. "Anyway," I look around the room, the vampires have conjugated sans Renesme; the child having retreated to her bed some hours ago. She might not need sleep as much as a human, but as a child it's still necessary.

I follow Klaus when he heads off to the side, through the door the world is crisp and chilled. The sky churns in earnest shades of grey and silver. It's supposed to be a full moon tonight...this morning.

Klaus leans back against the glass and casually blows on his fingers, although I doubt the cold is bothering him. I content myself with staring at the looming sooty treetops. A smattering of watery drops falls from the wind-shaken pines and I wrinkle my nose at the uncomfortable sensation.

"I think you interest them," I offer quietly as I scrub away the icy droplet on my cheek. "Maybe they even like you; I know they like Hayley though." I offer a grin but Klaus's sights are set elsewhere. "What do you think of them?" I ask, fearful and impatient for his assessment of my 'family'.

His answer takes its time in forming. "Enlightening,"

I pout, well aware how strange it looks on me. "That's all you've got to say? I've met two of your family members and I've got a plethora of things to say,"

His cheek twitches, "They're…inviting, amusing. Strange, I see where you get it from." I stick my tongue out, "Unfortunately neither of my siblings were keen on making a good first impression."

"You got that right."

The wind hisses and spits, the willowy branches up above bending under the fierce onslaught.

I take the chance of broaching another topic, one that I'd otherwise not have the chance to. "You know, I've never really celebrated a Christmas before, but this is nice. How were your Christmases, I assume you had them?"

He shrugs, "For a while we dallied in holidays with meaning, the wonder wore off easily after a century or two, not considering they lost their purpose."

"We?" He makes no move to answer and I swallow. "The mysterious Rebekah?"

"Rebekah and Elijah, they were the only two how held any kindness for me."

"What happened to her? You never did tell me." I scuff the ground with my toe, turning my gaze to focus on the way the morning light starts to dye the far-off silver with a tinge of red.

"What happened in the past is the past, the good or bad – I don't wish to remember it, I don't want to relive it." I look at him, the inside lights highlight the beautiful carving of Klaus's cheek bones and something dormant awakens in his steady eyes. "I don't want to remember her."

The shadows that dance in those blue depths convince me to take the leap. I lay my hand on his and interlock our fingers. The appendages are icy under my warmth. "I get that."

To my relief he doesn't immediately disentangle our hands, but seems to hardly even notice it. His sights remain focused on the deep forest. "I guess you do,"

Ha…ha ha…ha… *clears throat* so that just happened. Don't ask me why this chapter looks like the mess it is, I have no logical answer for it. Anyway, I hope you liked it, even just a little. I'm trying to tie some loose ends before I get to the next fun part *internally fears no one cares*.

So yeah, not sure when the next update will be (hopefully not a month from now – I'msosorrypleasedon'thateme). Have a great leap day…